A Forever Future
by Clairisant2000
Summary: This is the second in the Forever series and continues the love story of AJ and Akaliiani and picks up with Mac and Gerald and their new loves. What surprised me is that there will be a third story in this series, so hope you keep watch for that one!
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: A Forever Future

AUTHOR: Clairisant

CLASSIFICATION: AJ/Other, Mac/Other, Gerald/Adel

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am very sorry that I have not posted in such a long while, I have had health issues that have kept me from writing, but I am better now and back to my writing. I hope that you enjoy the new stories that I have coming your way. This one and four more are done and just waiting to be posted. Also I have surprised myselt, but there will be a third story in this series!

FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback but please try to be kind and constructive. Clairisant 

Chapter 1

Mac reminisced on the evening as she prepared for bed that night. The luau had been amazing, the food was great, and the dancing had been a lot of fun too. The part of the night that had been totally unexpected and still had her a bit unnerved had been meeting Trevor Benet the Admiral's future brother-in-law.

Trevor had approached Mac moments after she'd arrived, declaring that he had taken one look at her and had fallen in love at first sight, not only that, but by way of introducing himself he'd asked to know the name of the woman he hoped to marry! For some reason she had told him her name was Sarah, rather than her usual response of Mac, so for the rest of the evening when 'Sarah' had come out of his mouth it felt like a caress.

They sat next to each other during dinner and had even danced together several times in between all their conversation to get to know each other better. By the end of the evening Mac had given him her phone number and accepted a date to lunch the next day. Trevor had apologized that it couldn't be dinner, because his flight back to Hawaii was that evening. He had to report to duty Monday morning.

As she removed her clothes and placed them in the hamper, Mac tried to imagine what it was that Trevor believed he saw in her that made him think she was marriage material. Of course he couldn't be aware of her abysmal track record with men, but sadly, she was. How in the world could a man like Trevor Benet ever be interested in her once he found out?! She was sure that there would be several who would be glad to tell him all the 'oh-so-juicy' details, Harm and Webb just to name two.

Mac had discovered during the course of the evening that he was a very determined man. Why had she even agreed to go out with him tomorrow? Not that Trevor would have taken 'no' for an answer.

Dressing for bed, she wondered just how their date would go. What did he expect from her in such a short period of time? Did he think that he was persuasive enough to get her to agree to marriage in one date? After all he was leaving tomorrow night.

In a very rare feminine moment, her last thought before falling asleep was, 'What should I wear tomorrow?' She had very few 'date' clothes and the ones she did have weren't really suited for a lunch date.

Trevor wasn't the only Benet to feel a stirring of new love at the engagement party of AJ Chegwidden and Liiani Benet. The patriarch of the Benet clan had taken one look at a lovely woman getting out of a cab, and knew, that if he could talk her into taking on a man of his age that he might just have a chance at walking down the aisle a third time.

Adel Chegwidden was considered an old maid by some, but the fact that she had never married hadn't really ever bothered her. She had always felt an affinity for the land even when her twin brother had joined the Navy and had gone off to see the world. She had been content to stay at home on the family ranch.

She had inherited the ranch when their father had unexpectedly, and out of the blue, died of a heart attack while on a cattle drive. AJ had been on a SEAL operation at the time, and because of the secret nature of the mission, hadn't learned of the tragedy until after the funeral. Abigail Chegwidden had sadly followed her husband to the grave just three months later. The two of them had been married for twenty-seven years, right out of high school, and were still deeply in love with each other right up until Joseph's death. The doctor had said she'd had a heart attack, but Adel was sure it was from a broken heart. At least AJ had been able to come home for her funeral, even though he couldn't stay long. There had been no malice in his heart when the ranch had been left to Adel. After all, it was in her blood, and his ran Navy blue.

**To be continued…..**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adel had a few love affairs in her day, but her heart had never been deeply affected. Then she left her precious ranch to attend her brother's engagement party and out of the blue this handsome, mature man came up to her and started treating her like royalty from the moment they met. She was surprised to learn that he was AJ's fiancée's father and that on top of that Gerald also had four sons.

They were so different from each other she thought as the evening wore on. He was a city man that had traveled the world while serving his country. She was a country woman that only left her ranch to occasionally visit her brother. She was more at home on a horse than her own two feet, while he embarrassedly admitted to never having ridden! They had nothing in common and yet she felt more comfortable with him that any other man she had ever met. What was happening to her?

Gerald Benet had taken one look at Adel Chegwidden and knew that if she could be persuaded to have him, she would be his third wife. He never understood how it worked, but it had been the same way with Joyce and Makalani. His gut had tightened, his heart had raced, and he was short of breath…yep, he was in love again! Now he faced a few problems; could he interest Adel in taking on a man of his age; what would AJ's reaction be to his future father-in-law courting his sister…twin sister at that! And finally how would his five children feel if he were to get married again?

Getting to know Adel at the party had been a lot of fun. They had sat on the ground next each other during the luau and he had taught her how to eat some of the traditional Hawaiian dishes that had been served. When the wonderful meal was over he had talked her into taking a hula lesson. Adel had insisted that she would only do it if he did as well. What she hadn't known at the time was that his second wife had been Hawaiian and he'd been stationed there for several years, so he already knew how to hula and wasn't half bad at it!

Many of the guests had given the hula lessons a try, but the one that surprised Gerald the most was when AJ had gotten up to give it a go. It wasn't that his future son-in-law was a spoil sport, but rather there was an ingrained level of dignity about the man that sort of ruled the fun and silliness of hula lessons out. However, when AJ had seen his sister and Gerald up there combined with Liiani's persuasive pout, he couldn't refuse to give it a try.

It turned out that after taking a few minutes to get the steps down AJ Chegwidden was not a bad dancer. His fiancée praised his skill and rewarded him with a kiss. About the only ones that didn't give the lessons at least a brief try were Mac and Trevor. The two of them seemed too engrossed in each other to want to take the time out.

The evening ran late and even Bud and Harriet called their babysitter to see if the time they had originally told her they would be home could be extended. It seemed that everyone was reluctant for the luau to end. It would have been hard to say who'd had the most fun over the course of the evening.

As AJ and Liiani were saying good-bye to the last of their guests Adel and Gerald settled into two lawn chairs on AJ's back patio. They had spent the entire party side by side, neither of the caring that nearly everyone noticed. Conversation had been general for the most part because they were surrounded by family and friends that could interrupt at any moment.

However, Gerald felt that it was time to get serious now that they were alone. "Adel, I was wondering how long you were going to be in town?" he questioned.

She smiled at him and answered, "Well, I had only planned to be here for the weekend, but I could change that if I had a reason."

"Would my wanting to spend more time with you be enough reason?"

Her grin got wider, "It would."

**To be continued…..**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With a sigh of relief Gerald reached across the distance between the two of them and took Adel's hand, "Adel, I feel that I should be up front with you about my intentions. I fell in love at first sight with both of my wives and today when I saw you getting out of the cab I had those same feelings again."

"Gerald I have never been more attracted to any man than I am to you, but we are so very different. If things were to progress with us, how would we handle our different worlds?" she questioned with an extremely concerned look on her face.

"My dear, I know that you are tied to your ranch in Texas. With the exception of Liiani there is nothing to tie me to this area, and now that she is going to marry your brother I know that she will be well taken care of. So, there would be no reason that we couldn't share your world."

"That is so very considerate of you, but I don't think you really know just how different a ranch in Texas is from what you are used to," she sighed sadly.

"Adel, I was a Marine for several decades and have lived all over the world. I can adjust to life on a ranch if you are there. I know how soon this is, but from this moment, my love, wherever you are is home!" He rose from his lawn chair and knelt next to hers with her hand still in his. "Adel Chegwidden, I love you and would be the happiest man in this world if you would marry me."

With a soft gasp, her free hand fluttered to her heart, a tear slid down her cheek and a tender smile curved her lips up. "Gerald Benet…"

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it as he interrupted her, "Before you give me your answer, I had better confess something."

"What would that be?" she asked.

"I am not as young as I look. I know that you are aware I have five children, but what you might not know is that I didn't start my family until I was already almost forty… and my oldest just turned sixty. Adel, last week I had my one hundredth birthday."

"I had no idea!" she gasped. "I figured that you were about eighty, but one hundred! You are in remarkable shape for your age! You are in good health, aren't you?"

"I do have a touch of angina, but have been keeping it under control with medication, and I don't drive anymore, but other than that I live a pretty okay life. Do you think that you might be willing to take me on under those conditions?"

"Oh yes Gerald! I would love to take you on!"

"You will marry me?" he questioned to be sure he understood her answer.

Her smile pierced his heart, "Yes I will," she replied.

With a laugh, he stood and asked, "Do you think AJ and my daughter would go for a double wedding?"

Getting to her feet Adel told him, "I wouldn't mind that, but I believe that every young woman wants her special day to be just hers. Liiani should have her day to herself Gerald. Plus I don't need a big ceremony; we could just run off to the justice of the peace if you like."

Pulling her into his arms he shook his head, "Oh no! You might not want a big to do, but I want you to have a special day too. We can do something very simple, but I want our families there, and," with a chuckle he continued, "since our families are combining it makes that easier."

Nodding she asked, "When do you think we should tell everyone?"

"The sooner the better, I think!" he told her.

Hand in hand the two of them headed into the house to break their news to AJ and Liiani first.

**To be continued…..**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AJ and Liiani were startled when the back door of his house opened and Gerald and Adel walked in. Before the door had opened they had been cuddled up on the couch talking about the evening. Liiani had been telling AJ that by the look on his face, her brother Trevor had met the woman he wanted to marry at the party that night.

AJ protested, "But he spent the entire evening with Colonel Mackenzie!"

Liiani smiled and nodded, "Isn't great?! And both of them Marines."

"I always figured that she would end up with Rabb."

"Didn't you tell me they have been partners for eight years and they haven't made it work yet?"

"True, how do you think this will play out? With him stationed in Pearl and her here?"

"Well, he will be here most of tomorrow and back for our wedding in a few weeks. If I'm right, it will just give him a reason to visit more often."

"Mac is a great person and deserves some happiness in her life, but I will have to check at how having my sister-in-law working in my chain of command will work."

"Don't you think that she would move to Hawaii to be with him?" Liiani asked just as her father and Adel walked in.

AJ was trying to recover from the thought of possibly loosing Mac so didn't pick up on the cue of the other two holding hands. Liiani, however, had seen the look on her father's face every time he had looked at her mother. That combined with the hand holding and smiles led her to guess what was coming. Her father told them, "We have an announcement to make!"

"What would that be?"AJ asked.

Suddenly a strange look came over Gerald's face and he replied, "Maybe I should be asking your blessing first, son."

Finally picking up on the non verbal clues between the other two, seeing their joined hands and smiling faces, AJ asked, "So am I to take it that you aren't asking my permission to marry my sister?"

Adel snorted, "You are not my father, AJ! You aren't even the older twin! Be glad he is asking your blessing!"

AJ knew she wasn't really angry, so just grinned and said, "Well no matter, you both have it."

At that, Liiani, who had been waiting for the outcome of the interchange, rushed forward to hug her father and then turned to do the same to Adel. AJ was right next to her shaking her father's hand and then pulling Adel into his arms for a hug.

"Have the two of you talked about a date yet?" Liiani asked them.

Immediately AJ knew where she was going with that train of thought and knew he would not mind sharing his and Liiani's wedding day with his twin and Gerald.

"I know where you are going daughter and while it is a very nice idea, Adel and I have decided that we don't want to wait that long," Gerald told her.

"Pops, it's only a few weeks away! The two of you just met a few hours ago!"

"I know that, but at our age waiting is pointless."

"AJ and Adel are the same age!" Liiani protested,

"No, Adel is eleven minutes older than AJ," Gerald grinned.

AJ rolled his eyes at this, taking in the look on his sister's face, he had never seen her happier than she was at that moment. "Then what is your plan?" he asked.

**To be continued…..**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"We are going to find a Justice of the Peace and we wanted the two of you to be our witnesses. I will be moving to Texas with Adel. Who knows, by the time we come back for your wedding I might be a cowboy!"

"Dad!" Liiani gasped, "This is all so sudden. I know that you're a grown man, I guess I'm the one that needs the time to get used to the idea."

Adel put her free hand on Gerald's arm, "Gerry, I do have a good foreman back in Texas. I could call him and make arrangements to stay here until AJ and Liiani's wedding."

It was the first time Liiani had heard Adel speak to her father directly. She could hear the love in Adel's voice and knew that she would be as devoted to him as AJ was to her. It was easy for Liiani to accept the idea of love at first sight for her family, she had been raised with it, but it was harder to accept that others believed or lived the concept. However, here a brother and sister stood as evidence that it not only was possible but fact. With a smile she said, "If you want to be a cowboy Pops, its okay with me. But, Adel, could you start him out with a kiddy pony?"

Adel nodded and started laughing, soon the other three joined in.

Later that night everyone was in bed, AJ and Liiani in the master bedroom, Adel in the guest room, and Gerald sleeping on the large leather couch in the den. "Can you believe this day?" AJ asked his fiancée' who was cuddle in his arms.

"I was happy to see that Trevor was interested in Colonel Mackenzie, but never thought that Dad would also fall for someone!"

"So Gerald is going to be my father and brother in law," laughed AJ.

"How do you feel about that?"

"Just fine. He's a great guy and to have him related to me in two different ways is alright, it was just unexpected, but I've never seen Adel happier."

"They both did, didn't they? I guess my only concern is how fast it is all happening? Pops moving to Texas so quickly. I mean I never thought that I would ever have a step-mother let alone that it would all happen like this."

"Then I think Adel's offer to stay until our wedding might be the best idea. It will give you time to get used to the idea of your father marrying again and moving so far away."

She giggled a bit tentatively, "Well I was worried about where we would live once we were married, now I guess we don't have to worry about staying near Pop."

"Akaliiani, are you sure you aren't more worried about having a step-mother than where your father will live?" he prodded gently.

"No, not at all, from the little that I spent with Adel she seems like a great person and I am happy that Pops found her. I know that it might be a bit funny, but I have never lived farther away from him than I do now. It will be really weird having him so far away. Do you think I am acting like a little girl not wanting my daddy to move away?"

"No, I think you are being a concerned daughter, Akaliiani. You chose your career so that you would be close enough to care for him. It would be only natural for you to be concerned about him moving so far. I know I've never talked about it so let me explain a little about the family ranch. It has been in the family for about one hundred and fifty years and is so large that it's miles from the nearest town…"

At her panicked look he quickly continued, "Because of that the area around the homestead is almost like a town. Besides all the usual ranch stuff like the stables and barns, there is a mechanic and blacksmith shop as well as our own gas station. However, what will put your mind most at rest is that Adel keeps a medic/vet on staff at all times. We can make sure that he has Gerald's medical records and if there is any problem at all we also have a small plane and landing strip that could have your dad at a real hospital in very short order."

AJ felt more than heard her sigh of relief. He waited for her to say something for a couple of minutes then realized that the excitement of the day had finally caught up with her and she was asleep.

**To be continued…..**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

That night Mac dreamed of what the future would look like if she became involved with Trevor Benet. Things would start out wonderfully, they would have long phone conversations trying to bridge the distance between them and there would be many weekend visits back and forth depending on who could more easily get away each time. There would also be week long trips where they could spend real time together too.

Then there would be that first disagreement, not even a fight, more of a conflict, 'It's your turn to travel', 'But I can't get away'. It would resolve itself fairly quickly, but there would be just a germ of resentment left behind. Unfortunately the germ would grow followed by that first real fight. One would follow another until they were doing more of that than anything else.

By the time Mac woke in the morning she was nearly in tears. Her track record with men was so bad that she couldn't believe she had ever let Trevor talk her into going out! If this relationship, that hadn't even started yet, ended badly, she wouldn't just be affecting her own life, it would impact on the Admiral and Trevor's sister's lives too! What had she been thinking?!

Mac had been thinking how charming and kind, how funny and gentle he had been. He had been so sure that she was the right one for him, but he didn't know her past. How every relationship she'd been in had turned sour, from Chris, her teenage marriage that had ended in his death just a few years ago, to her most recent failed romance with Clayton Webb. Once Trevor knew about them and all the disasters in between, he would surely go running back to the sandy beaches of Hawaii.

She thought about giving him a call to cancel the date, but then realized that she didn't know where he was staying while in town. It would stand to reason that his father or sister would know where he was, or was even staying with one of them. In the end though, she decided to face him in person and to be honest about why she would be such a bad choice for him.

Getting up she spent some time cleaning the apartment and even did a load of laundry before heading to the shower in preparation for her date. Choosing a dressy pair of slacks and a light weight cotton sweater to go with them. Mac wasn't at all surprised when her doorbell rang right on time. Marines were trained to be punctual.

Mac drew a deep breath when she opened the door, it wasn't as if she had forgotten how good looking he was in the few hours they had been apart, but it was still almost enough to take her breath away. Asking him to come in a few minutes while she grabbed her purse and slid into her shoes, Mac told him she was ready to go.

Trevor smiled at her as they walked out of the building on the way to his sister's car that he had borrowed for the date. "I didn't make reservations for us because I wasn't sure what kind of food you prefer. Do you have a favorite place?" he asked holding the car door open for her.

"I have several favorite places, depending on what I am in the mood for at the time. Calisto's for Italian, Gonzos for Mexican, the Skyline for typical American, and Dynasty is a great Oriental buffet, but they do charge an extra two dollars on Sunday."

Chuckling, Trevor told her, "I can afford the extra couple of bucks if that is what you are in the mood for."

"Great! I really love their crab ragoons!"

After being shown to a table for two Mac and Trevor both ordered coffee to go with their meal and then headed to the buffet to load up their plates. Back at the table between bites of her food Mac started to try and discourage Trevor from thinking they could have a relationship. "I know I told you last night that I wasn't seeing anyone on a regular basis right now, but I feel it's only fair to tell you why. You see, I'm a disaster at relationships. I'm really not sure if it is because I only attract the wrong type of men or if I am just not meant to be with anyone at all."

**To be continued…..**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Well, I can't imagine any man that wouldn't be attracted to you Sarah and I'm sure that someone as sweet and lovely as you are could ever be a disaster at anything," Trevor told her.

"You really don't understand Trevor, even my partner told another co-worker that any man I was ever involved with was either dead or wished they were," she reported sadly.

"That guy must be a jerk!"

"Harm can be at times, but in all honesty he was right about that," she admitted.

"You are a wonderful and attractive woman, Sarah so it must have been the men you were involved with that were wrong for you. So you are not scaring me off. I'm willing to give you as much time as you need, but I am sure that you are the one for me."

"I really wish that were true! You seem so kind and caring, but I just know that I would find some way to screw things up. I would hate to break your heart."

"Let me worry about my heart, Sarah. I'm a grown man and can take whatever comes my way."

"Trevor, you don't know how much I want to believe that! You are the nicest guy that I have met in a very long time and I would love to get to know you better."

"There's nothing to stop that from happening other than the fact that I have to catch a plane in a few hours."

Mac's heart skipped a bit at the look on his face. Trevor Benet was looking at her the way her CO and his new fiancée' had been looking at each other at their party. She had only caught glimpses of it directed at her on rare occasions. From Clayton Webb when they had been in Paraguay, and maybe one time from Mic during their engagement, but never from someone she had met only twenty four hours before. A single tear slid down her cheek and before she could reach up to brush it away, Trevor's hand was there. He smiled gently at her and asked, "What brought this on? Was it something I said?"

She shook her head in the negative, too choked up to speak at that moment, but she did lean her head so her cheek rested in the hand caressing her face.

"Sarah, I wish I had more time, but I have to be back on duty tomorrow morning. But if you will let me, I will call every night and I can fly in every weekend."

"No, that's just too much," she protested and Trevor's heart fell thinking he had pushed her too hard. His opinion quickly changed however, when she continued, "You will only call me every other night and fly up on alternating weekends. I can't let you bare all that expense yourself, I can afford to call and fly as well, so it is only fair that we trade off. Agreed?"

His grin lit up his face, overjoyed that she wasn't shooting him down as he had thought, but instead wanted to share in the expenses of staying in touch with each other. "Agreed!" he assured her.

They finished their meal and left the restaurant. Mac suggested that they take a walk along the Mall. It was a long, broad strip of sidewalk with a large variety of stores lining both sides. The Mall was often host to all kinds of activities from art shows to ethnic cooking demonstrations. The crowds at those events were impressive, often people were shoulder to shoulder. A claustrophobic person would have run for the hills. But that afternoon there was nothing special going on so the foot traffic was light.

She and Trevor were able to stroll along holding hands and talking. About two thirds of the way down the Mall Trevor abruptly stopped a moment to look in a store window. The next moment Mac felt herself gently being pulled along as they entered the store.

Trevor went right up to the counter where an elderly man sat reading the paper. He beckoned the man to follow him and with Mac still in tow headed back to the window. Trevor pointed to a tray of rings that had been on display and waited for the owner to bring them out.

"Before I leave tonight, Sarah I want you to know that I am serious. Pick out which ever ring you like best."

"Trevor, I can't! Those are engagement rings!" Mac protested.

**To be continued…..**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I know they are. I'd like my ring on your finger before I have to return to Pearl, Sarah. Please choose the one you like the best."

"We only met twenty six hours and eighteen minutes ago, it would be crazy to get engaged in that short of a time!"

"Well then we can call it a friendship ring until you are ready for it to be more."

Flashbacks of Mic and that same arrangement being made and how it all turned out raced through her mind before Mac assured him she did not want that arrangement.

"What about this one?" Trevor asked, honing in on the very one that she had secretly had her eye on.

"Trevor, I'm sure it's too much, or doesn't fit, or some such thing," she dithered.

Taking the ring from the tray, Trevor smiled and fell to one knee. He had remembered his father's stories about how he had proposed to both his wives and realized that what might be missing here was the fact that he had not actually popped the question. "Sarah Mackenzie, I know we have only known each other for twenty six hours and twenty odd minutes, but I love you and want more than anything in this world for you to be my wife. Please say that you will marry me."

He knelt there holding out the ring to her and Mac realized that her feelings for this man were stronger than for Chris, her dead husband, Mic, her former fiancé, Clayton Webb, ex-lover, and Harm her partner, combined. She held out her trembling left hand and softly told him, "Yes."

Trevor slid the ring onto Sarah's finger and both of them looked slightly surprised at the way it fit like it had been made for her. Quickly getting to his feet he swept her into his arms to seal the deal with a kiss.

The kiss heated up quickly and neither of them could have said where it would have gone if the shop owner's cough hadn't interrupted them.

"We'll take it," Trevor told the man and left Sarah to go and pay for it.

Mac couldn't take her eyes off of the ring on her hand. She knew 'how' it had gotten there, but was still having a hard time believing she had said 'yes' to his proposal after only having met him yesterday.

That morning AJ and Liiani woke later than normal because of how late they had been up discussing Gerald and Adel's plans for their future. Moments after his eyes had opened, AJ's nose twitched and he turned to Liiani to ask, "Do you smell something?"

"Coffee, I always smell your wonderfully strong coffee in the morning."

"No something else, there's more than coffee, it smells like a bakery!"

Liiani sniffed again and sat up, "You're right! What could it be?"

Both of them quickly got out of bed. AJ slid into a pair of jeans as Liiani threw on a robe and they headed for the door. As soon as it was open they heard giggling coming from the kitchen.

"I haven't heard Adel make that sound since she was a teenager," AJ murmured as they crossed the living room.

The giggle had been followed by Gerald's laughter and Liiani answered AJ, "They both sound very happy."

"Bout time you two got up!" Gerald grumbled as they entered the room.

"Considering what time we all went to bed, I'm surprised that the two of you are up!" Liiani retorted.

AJ and Liiani both wondered why Gerald had a slightly guilty look on his face at that comment. All of them had been happy to stay up talking about the two upcoming weddings. What the younger couple didn't know was that Gerald had waited in the den, after going to bed, until he thought his daughter and her fiancé were asleep before getting up and heading into the guest room where his fiancée' was spending the night. Gerald figured that if his unmarried daughter could share a bed with her fiancé then he and Adel should be able to do the same!

**To be continued…..**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Before anything more could be said on that subject, Adel announced, "I made Beignets!"

He had traveled the world with the Navy, but as far as AJ knew, his sister had only left Texas to visit him. "Where in the world did you learn to make Beignets?" he questioned her.

"In New Orleans," was her almost casual answer.

"New Orleans?! When were you there?!" AJ wanted to know.

"My ladies group from church went a couple of years ago. They offered either a Beignet making class or to learn how to play jazz. Since I have always been awful on any instrument, I took the cooking class."

"They smell fantastic, Adel. Why don't we all go into the dining room and eat?" Liiani suggested.

When they were seated, AJ took a sip of the coffee Gerald had poured for him and knew right away that his future father-in-law had to have made it. "Great coffee Gerald," he told the older man.

With an affronted look on her face, Adel wanted to know, "And just how did you know I didn't make the coffee?!"

"Because in all the years we've been related," AJ had to pause for a moment to pat Liiani on the back as she almost choked at the comment, "You never learned to make coffee strong enough."

"Don't be offended, my love," Gerald told Adel, "it took being in the Marines for me to learn to make it that strong."

"But AJ's in the Navy!" she protested.

At Gerald's reply, AJ was the one that almost choked, "There is an anomaly every so often."

After confirming that Adel and Gerald had not changed their minds about being married as quickly as possible, AJ advised them to get a license the next day and then to meet Liiani and himself at JAG headquarters. He would arrange for one of the Judges to perform the ceremony for them.

Gerald grinned at his future son-in-law and told him that they not only needed to get the license, but a ring as well, to make the engagement official.

Adel quickly spoke up and said she didn't need or want an engagement ring since it was going to be such a short one. All she wanted was a wedding band, and maybe one for him so they would match. After a short discussion about it with Gerald, he gave in and agreed that they would only have matching bands. Although he vowed to himself that he would get her a band of diamonds rather than just a plain gold one.

His daughter was watching Gerald through that conversation and could tell from the look on his face that he was up to something, they would just have to wait and see what if turned out to be.

As the day went on and talk turned from the plans of one engaged couple to the other and back again. A comment from AJ had Liiani in tears when he revealed that he planned to take her back to Hawaii for their honeymoon. She jumped to her feet to hug and kiss him. There was no need for words to tell anyone that she was ecstatic with the idea.

"You have clearly hit the nail on the head with your choice of honeymoon destinations, AJ. My daughter seems very happy," Gerald spoke up.

"She does Gerry, but I do hope that they will find time in the near future to visit us in Texas. I know the two of you will miss each other greatly after living together for so many years," Adel added.

"That is a good idea, Adel," AJ responded. "We could take a few days at the end of our trip to stop in at the ranch, if it meets with everyone's approval."

All of them quickly agreed.

Gerald later asked if AJ would take them back to his home so he could show Adel the things that he would want to move to the ranch. AJ told him he would be happy to do so.

**To be continued…..**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was always a tossup between Colonel Mackenzie and Admiral Chegwidden as to which of them got into the office first. Whichever it was, started a pot of strong coffee that the two of them were able to share before the rest of the staff got in and started making a much weaker brew. That morning it just happened to be Mac who arrived first, however it took her twice as long as it usually did to get the coffee going.

She just couldn't stop staring at the ring on her finger every time her left hand came into view. Mac was torn between two emotions, shocking disbelief and overwhelming joy. She was engaged! Almost impossible to believe since she had only met Trevor two days ago.

Meanwhile, Colonel Trevor Benet had just finished one hundred pushups, sit ups, and pull ups, he was just about to leave his apartment for a three mile run around the base before reporting for duty. However, before heading out the door he couldn't resist pulling out his phone and taking a few moments to look at all the pictures he had taken of Sarah. His favorite by far was the one taken just after he had slid the engagement ring on her finger. He simply could not wait to get to work that morning to show everyone the pictures of his beautiful new fiancée'.

Trevor knew he would be the envy of the base when his friends saw how beautiful and learned how smart and talented Sarah was. He was already counting the hours until he could call her tonight.

AJ entered the break room surprised to see Mac standing there. She was usually already in her office hard at work on the days she beat him into the office. He was just about to ask her if she had just arrived when he noticed two things. The pot of coffee was already made and that she hadn't even noticed his entrance into the room because she was staring at her own hand.

Moving close to her, he saw what could only be an engagement ring on her finger. "Are congratulations in order Mac?" he asked.

Jumping slightly in surprise to look up and see the Admiral standing there, she smiled and nodded. "I can hardly believe it, but yes they are," she answered.

"Must be something in the air! My sister and Liiani's father also got engaged over the weekend."

"What?! That's wonderful!" Mac exclaimed.

"It is," he grinned. "So who is the lucky man that won your heart?"

"Trevor Benet," she answered.

"I see," AJ was not at all surprised with Mac's revelation that her fiancé was Liiani's brother.

"So are they getting married in the fall after you and Liiani?"

"Adel and Gerald don't want to wait, they are planning to be here at noon to tie the knot if I can arrange it with one of our judges."

"You don't have to bother, Admiral! Bud got ordained over the internet when Harm got married to Ms. Gale. I'm sure he would be happy to perform the ceremony."

"Great, I will ask him as soon as he gets in."

Earlier that morning after AJ had dropped the three of them off at Gerald and Liiani's house Liiani quickly said good-bye to the other two so she could run upstairs to get some housework done before the wedding. Gerald and Adel entered the ground floor apartment to look over what Gerald would want to take to Texas with him.

When it came right down to it Gerald discovered that there was actually very little he felt he needed to take with him other than his clothes and a few personal belongings. Even with Adel's assurance that he could bring anything he wanted and that they would find room for it, he remained firm that he would travel light when moving to this new life. As hard as it was to believe that he had found love again at one hundred. And to top it all off, he was about to start a whole new part of his life, one completely different than he had before. Gerald could hardly wait!

Taking Adel out to the garage Gerald introduced her to his 'baby' and handed over the keys to her so the two of them could head into town to obtain their marriage license and get their rings. Once they were on the road, Adel had a suggestion to make, "Gerry, if this car means so much to you we could arrange to have it shipped to Texas.

Pausing a moment to think over her offer, Gerald shook his head, "It just wouldn't be practical," he told her.

"That doesn't matter if you want to keep the car."

"Now Adel, I am sure you have your own vehicle there on the ranch, don't you?"

"Yes, a range rover," she admitted.

"Much more practical, this car would hardly be suitable to ranch life."

"Not as a working vehicle, but we could drive it on weekends and trips into town."

"Aren't most 'trips into town' to pick up supplies and such?" at her reluctant nod, he went on, "So the range rover would be more suitable."

"Yes, but we could still use it on the weekends," she offered.

"Just how many weekends a year do you actually take off?" he asked with a sly grin.

"You are impossible Gerald Benet! Here I am trying to do something nice for you…"

He interrupted her, "Adel Chegwidden the nicest thing you could do for me, you are already doing!"

She threw him a quizzical look and he smiled lovingly at her, "You are marrying me! I can't think of anything nicer you could do for me… other than possibly what you did last night."

"Oh you!" she exclaimed and blushed prettily.

**To be continued…..**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"I just found out this morning that Mac is engaged to your brother," AJ told Liiani .

"What!?" she exclaimed.

"I know, I was surprised too."

"You don't see any problems with that do you?" she asked.

"My only problem will be in losing a great Chief of Staff," he admitted.

"Oh I guess so. if she is going to Hawaii with him."

"That was my thought. Now the only one that won't be married in your family will be Vince. Do you have any idea what he and Collette are waiting for?"

"No, I don't. At first I wondered if he wasn't sure that he loved her, but I have only to look in his eyes to know that he does. Maybe its her that is holding things up. I'll talk to your Colonel Mackenzie the next time I see her and make sure that we both throw our bouquets right at her."

AJ laughed at that and told her he needed to get back to work so they ended the call.

Liiani straightened up her apartment and even finished the laundry as she waited for the time she needed to leave for JAG Headquarters and her father's wedding. She had just picked out the dress she wanted to wear and was about to put it on when her phone rang. She was surprised to see Vince's name on her caller ID, thinking he should be busy at work.

"How goes it, Sis?" he asked when she answered the phone.

"Funny you should ask, but there has been a lot going on here."

"Normally I would love to chat about all of it but I only had a moment between appointments and wanted you to be the first to hear the news. I guess Collette and I were inspired by you and your Admiral, so after all this time we have set a wedding date!"

"That is great Vince! When?"

"This winter, Collette loves the colors and wanted to use them for her bridesmaids gowns. I am sure that she will be asking you as well," he chuckled.

"I'll look forward to it! Now let me tell you what has been going on here."

"I really don't have time right now, I will call you and dad tonight when I'm off work."

"Okay, but when you talk to Pops you should probably say a few words to your new stepmom as well," she hung up as he started tossing out a barrage of questions. As she got dressed for her father's wedding Liiani contemplated what an interesting year this was turning out to be.

About fifteen minutes before the staff meeting was to begin Mac went to Admiral Chegwidden's office to speak to him. "Admiral, could I talk to you about what my marrying Trevor will mean to my career?"

"I assume that you will be leaving us here at JAG and moving to Hawaii?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, I was hoping to get a transfer of some kind…I know this is pretty short notice."

"Let me see what I can work out Mac, and I will let you know as soon as I have something lined up."

"Thank you, Sir."

AJ waited until everyone was assembled in the conference room for the morning staff meeting. All eyes were on him, expecting him to ask for updates on ongoing cases and then to pass out any new cases that had developed over the weekend. Instead of doing what his staff expected, AJ smiled at Colonel Mackenzie and said, "After the meeting this morning, I think you should all congratulate Colonel Mackenzie on her engagement."

Sitting at the head of the table AJ had Mac on his right with Harm directly across from her. Mac exchanged an amused glance with her CO letting him know that she didn't mind him telling the others in that manner. As the announcement sunk in to the staff, Sturgis turned to congratulate his old Academy buddy until he saw the look of confusion on Harm's face.

Bud spotted the ring on her finger and reached out to offer his best wishes, all the while hoping he would get to Harriett first after the meeting so he could be the one to tell her the news. Harm finally found his voice and demanded to know to whom she was engaged.

"The Admiral's future brother-in-law, Trevor Benet," she answered calmly.

Before any more could be said, AJ interjected, "Let us all get down to business now. I am sure there will be lots of time to talk about engagement later." Only Harm looked like he wasn't ready to return to work mode, but after a look at the stern expression on the Admiral's face thought better of making a protest.

AJ dismissed the meeting and left the conference room knowing there would be an uproar as soon as he was gone about the bombshell he had dropped at the beginning of the meeting. Bud quickly followed him out, eager to tell Harriet the news.

**To be continued…..**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mac's plan as she left the conference room was to head directly to the break room for another cup of coffee. Even though the brew in the pot would be much weaker than what she and the Admiral preferred it would still be hot and black and she could use all she could get of that today since she had spent most of the night sleeplessly missing Trevor. But it seemed that was going to be delayed for a time as she had only gotten halfway across the bullpen when Harm grabbed her by the arm to drag her into his office.

The door was barely closed when he demanded, "Do you want to explain yourself?!"

"You're the one that hijacked me Harm, how about you start!"

"I want to know what this engagement business is all about! What the heck is going on?! And what about us?!"

"Harm, there is no us," she sighed sadly.

"We had a deal!" he protested.

"We made a bargain that if neither one of us were involved at the time it would happen. Well I am involved now so that means the deal is off," Mac told Harm as gently as she could.

"But you don't know this guy! You only met him on Saturday and on Monday you are going to marry him!?

"Actually, I said yes yesterday before he left for Hawaii. Harm, I've never felt this way before. I have never been as sure about anything as I am about this. Trevor is right for me, I just know it, all I can hope is that I will be right for him."

"And if you aren't? Then what?"

"Hey! You're supposed to be my friend! How about a little support here?!" she asked in a wounded tone.

"Mac you have a rotten track record with guys! I'm the only one that has always been here for you!"

"And yet you can't commit no matter how many chances you've had."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"That night in Sydney harbor, or at my engagement party to Mic on the Admiral's porch, or even after you resigned your commission to come after me in Paraguay, even then you couldn't tell me how you felt! Trevor knew within minutes of meeting me that he wanted to share the rest of his life with me and wasn't afraid to tell me so. Sorry Harm, but I'm sure you know the old saying 'you snooze, you lose'. Well maybe you will wake up one day," she told him and left his office.

Harm started to follow her to continue the argument when he saw Harriett waiting right outside to waylay Mac about her news. She oohed and aahed over Mac's ring for a bit and then asked if they had set a date yet.

"No, but if Trevor has his way, it won't be long." At the look on her friends face

Mac laughed, "Don't give me any grief about how fast we are moving, Harriett! Gerald and Adel met on Saturday too and they are getting married today!"

"I know! Buddy just told me that the Admiral asked him to perform the ceremony! Who knew that when he got ordained on the internet so he could marry Commander Rabb and that lady, that he would ever need to use it again."

"Wait a minute!" Harm exclaimed, he had been listening to the conversation between Mac and Harriet in the hopes of learning more details. What he hadn't expected was to learn something relating to himself. "Do you mean that when Bud married Catherine Gale and I, he was legally licensed to do so?!"

"Yes," Harriett told him. "It only took a few minutes to do it on line."

"So what you are saying is that he really married Catherine Gale and me?!"

"I believe so Commander. He didn't know he was supposed to do any different when you called him in such a rush. Bud just got himself ordained as the sheet of vows was printing out."

"That's just great!" Harm told her, then slowly went back into his office and closed the door.

"Did I say something wrong?" Harriett asked looking at the closed door.

"No, Harriett, I think he just needed to check with his wife about something," Mac replied with a chuckle.

_**To be continued…..**_


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

AJ couldn't believe how fast the morning had gone after the staff meeting. It felt like he had barely returned to his office and the next time he looked at his watch it was only a half an hour to the time for the wedding. He took off his glasses as he thought about his conversation with Bud. The younger man couldn't have been happier when AJ had asked if he would be willing to perform the ceremony in AJ's office over the lunch hour.

Heading out of his office and into the bullpen AJ asked for everyone's attention and invited any of the staff that would like to attend to meet in his office in thirty minutes. Once he finished speaking, AJ proceeded to the break room for another cup of coffee, however he was only half way there when the elevator doors pinged open and out stepped his sister, future brother/father-in-law, and his soon to be wife. Changing direction he greeted the three of them and turned to lead them into his office.

Both of the bridal couple were wearing suits, Gerald, a gray pinstripe and Adel, a lovely cream colored jacket and skirt with a rose colored blouse. Akaliiani had chosen a pretty printed sundress.

"We picked up this daughter of mine on the way over because Adel said she wanted her to be her maid-of-honor," Gerald informed AJ as they entered the office. "I was hoping that you would stand up with me, lad," he added.

"Gerald, shouldn't one of your sons have that honor?" asked AJ.

"In a few weeks you will be my son and if truth were told, I already look on you that way! So what will it be?"

"I would be honored to do so, Sir!"

"No need to 'Sir' me son! You can call me dad," Gerald moved closer to AJ and lowered his voice before adding, "Or Pops the way Liiani does."

"I _heard_ that Pops! Why is it I always get grief for calling you that, but here you are giving AJ permission to do so?!" Akaliiani demanded with her fists planted on her hips.

AJ was thinking how sexy she looked like that as Gerald answered, "Well, maybe it's because I'll be moving away and might actually miss it."

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed, "So the truth comes out! All these years you never really minded at all!"

"Now I didn't say _that_!" he declared.

Before Akaliiani could reply, there was a knock on the door.

Opening it AJ saw Bud and Harriett standing there. Bud had a sheet of paper in his hand, but Harriet, bless her soul, had two small bouquets of flowers as well as two boutonniers. AJ gave her a huge smile as he invited them both in. Leaving the door open for the guests he knew would be arriving soon, AJ watched as Harriett handed out the flowers.

AJ stood with his arm around his fiance' as his sister took her wedding vows. Bud performed a traditional ceremony, well suited to the mature couple. He felt Akaliiani tremble next to him and looked down to see tears rolling down her face as Bud pronounced her father and Adel husband and wife.

As Gerald and Adel's first kiss as a married couple ended, Akaliiani pulled away from AJ and flew into her father's arms, "Oh Pops, I am so happy for you!" she whispered in his ear.

He pulled back slightly, and asked, "Are you sure about that baby girl?"

Adel was hugging her brother as Akaliiani and Gerald had a father/daughter moment.

"Yes dad, I know you and I have been good the last few years, but I have never seen you look happier than you are at this moment."

"And you are going to be just as happy with your Admiral, my love," he told her, giving his daughter another tight hug.

The two couples parted and Akaliiani and Adel stood staring at each other for just a moment before stepping forward to hug each other. "I will take good care of him, my dear," Adel told her.

"I know that you will, I can tell how much you love him," she replied.

AJ and Gerald were shaking hands before the rest of the guests took their turns congratulating the newly married couple.

_**To be continued…..**_


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

Mac stood watching everyone talking to Gerald and Adel, she wondered what it might like to be a part of this ever growing family and if any of them knew that Trevor wanted her to join their ranks. She could tell how much they all cared for one another and worried that someone with her upbringing could ever fit into their tight knit group. She had always wanted to be a part of a family and now that the possibility was before her she dared to dream that it might finally come true. Maybe she would talk to Trevor about it when he called later that night.

Harm and Sturgis were the first to leave the gathering because they both needed to be court shortly. Slowly the others drifted away until only AJ, Akaliiani, Adel, and Gerald remained.

"How soon are the two of you leaving for Texas," AJ asked.

The newlyweds quickly looked at each other and Gerald was the one that answered, "Tomorrow. We were able to get seats on an afternoon flight."

Overhearing the conversation between the two men Akaliiani gasped, "Tomorrow Pops?!"

Apologetically he answered, "We wanted to get our new lives started, baby girl."

After a moment she nodded and said, "I understand, and you will both be back in a few weeks for our wedding."

Giving her a big hug, Gerald said, "Yes we will, baby girl."

When AJ's phone rang and he went to his desk and answered it Gerald told his daughter that he and Adel were going to the house to pack up what he would take to Texas with him, but that they want to have dinner with Akaliiani and AJ that evening.

"But Pops, it's your honeymoon!" Akaliiani protested.

"We will have plenty of time to honeymoon in Texas, Liiani. Tonight we want to spend time with the two of you. Remember, Adel hasn't seen her brother in a long while."

"Okay," Akaliiani agreed and hugged her father and new stepmother good-bye.

All AJ could do was wave at the couple as they left because he was still tied up on the phone. Akaliiani walked over to him and waited for him to give her a bit of his attention before whispering that she was going to leave as well. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she took her leave.

Mac sat in her office knowing that she should be going over the file that was open in front of her, but instead all she could think of was the close knit happy Benet family and how she would ruin it if she and Trevor actually got married. She hated that she was always so down on herself, but with her history she just couldn't see herself fitting into this amazingly happy family.

In the middle of her self-recriminations, she looked up at the sound of a knock on her door jam. From the waist down a man stood there, however, the top half of the man was hidden by a large bouquet of flowers. "Sarah Mackenzie?" came a voice from behind the flowers.

When she confirmed that she was and signed for the bouquet, Mac waited for the delivery man to leave before reaching for the card. 'To the most brilliantly lovely woman I have ever met. Love, Trevor'. Mac took the card and pressed it to her heart, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

At Gerald's place he and Adel worked on packing the clothes and few personal items he wanted with him. The plan was to pack up more when the two of them came back for Akaliiani and AJ's wedding. There were a few kisses shared but they didn't want to let themselves get carried away because of the planned dinner with AJ and Liiani.

Akaliiani had suggested Callisto's for the family dinner that night because after AJ had introduced her to the restaurant it had become a favorite of hers as well as his. AJ smiled at her and said that while he loved Callisto's he thought that the newlywed couple deserved something better for their wedding dinner.

He suggested that they go to the Willard hotel where the restaurant is on the top floor and much fancier than Callisto's.

Akaliiani walked over to him and taking hold of his tie, she pulled him down so she could plant a heated kiss on his lips. "You are the sweetest man alive!"

With a grin he told her, "Well I don't know about that, but I am glad that you think so."

_**To be continued…..**_


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

They arrived at Gerald's place and Akaliiani pushed the door open without knocking, as she always did. She and AJ caught Gerald and Adel sharing a kiss. Liiani giggled and said, "Way to go, Pops!"

"I should have taught that girl to knock," Gerald told Adel.

"Oh I bet she knows how," Adel said with a wink at Akaliiani. "I think she was hoping to catch us doing exactly what we were doing."

Liiani swallowed a lump in her throat and said, "I am just glad to see the two of you are as happy as we are."

At the Willard, they were shown to a table by the window where they had a fantastic view of the city. Both men held out chairs for their ladies. The waiter handed them menus and left them to decide what to eat. The four discussed several options. Gerald and AJ decided on the surf and turf platter. Adel told them that she was always a Texas girl and ordered a T-bone steak. Akaliiani decided on shrimp scampi.

When the waiter arrived to take their order AJ told him that they also wanted a bottle of champagne.

As soon as their orders were placed AJ offered his hand to Akaliiani and asked, "Would you dance with me, my love?"

Taking his hand with a smile, she said, "Of course I will."

Gerald, not to be outdone, grinned at Adel and requested, "Will you dance with me, wife?"

"Any time, and anywhere, you handsome man!"

Both couples danced until they saw the waiter bring their first course and the champagne AJ had ordered to their table.

When dinner was finished AJ put his napkin down and asked, "Adel will you dance with me?"

"I would love to baby brother," she replied.

Akaliiani giggled at AJ being referred to in that manner. She then joined her father on the dance floor.

The evening ended after each couple had another dance with each other. The four arrived at the Benet house and everyone said good night. After Gerald and Adel closed the door to his first floor home, AJ walked Akaliiani to her second floor staircase. He was about to kiss her good night when Akaliiani gave him a gentle smile and took him by the hand, pulling him behind her up the stairs.

Mac entered her apartment that night to hear her phone ringing. She put her briefcase on the floor and just gave a push to close the door as she hurried across the living room to answer it.

"Hello beautiful," was the response to her breathless hello.

A warm glow came over her just to hear Trevor's voice. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she just felt all warm and gooey when they were in contact.

"I'm afraid there is no one here by that name," she told him, trying to hold back a girlish giggle.

"Sarah," he scolded.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just so much easier to believe that when I can see it in your eyes."

"Well, how about flying out to see me this weekend so that can happen!?

"That would be everything! I'll book my flight tonight and call you with the details."

"Perfect," he told her. The call continued for several more minutes as she told him about his father's wedding and how happy Gerald was with AJ's sister.

The next morning AJ had a meeting with the SECNAV that he couldn't get out of, so Akaliiani took the newlywed couple to the airport to see them on their way to Texas. Saying good-bye to her father was hard, but Adel's promise to take care of him helped to reassure her that he would be okay.

They promised to call each other often and he reminded her that they would be back for her wedding in just a few weeks. Finally their flight was called and there was only time for one last round of hugs before Gerald and Adel had to board the plane.

_**To be continued…..**_


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

For Mac it seemed like the weekend would never come. She was already packed, something she'd never done before. Mac walked into the terminal in Hawaii and spotted Trevor right away. He hurried to greet her, taking her into his arms and twirling her around as he kissed her. Her heart melted at the love and tenderness in his kiss.

When the kiss ended Trevor put her on the ground, and asked, "Have you had dinner yet, Sarah?"

"No, I left straight from work after changing out of my uniform."

"I hope that you don't mind that I didn't take time to change out of mine," he asked.

"Not at all, you're sexy in anything you wear."

He grinned at her and said, "Thank you, I made reservations at a local place that I love and I hope that you will like it too."

"I'm sure I will," she told him.

They arrived at the restaurant and Mac knew instantly that she was going to love the place as much as he did. Both of them asked for a slab of ribs with two sides. The only change came when Vince ordered a beer to go with his meal and Mac asked for an ice tea. He gave a raised eyebrow, and Mac reluctantly told him, "You might as well know that I am an alcoholic."

Trevor reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "Then I will change my order to ice tea as well," he told her.

"That's not necessary, I can be around someone who has a drink without a problem." She paused then asked "I just wonder how you felt about what I told you?"

"Sarah, everyone has challenges to overcome. How long have you been sober?"

"Five years."

"That's great! You should be proud of yourself."

"Trevor, you are SO understanding!"

"Speaking of that, I didn't want to presume about this weekend, so I reserved a room for you at the Hilton."

Mac was stunned, "You don't want me to stay with you?!"

"Oh Sarah! Of course I want you to stay with me, but I didn't want to assume that was what you wanted."

This time it was her that reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. "That was very considerate of you, but I want to be with you," she told him.

With a happy grin he said, "I'm glad."

At the end of the meal both of them cleaned up with the wet wipes that the waiter brought them, and Trevor paid the bill. Pulling back her chair, they both headed for the door. Once in the car Trevor asked. "Would you like to go somewhere else or…"

Mac placed a finger on his lips and said, "I want to go to your place."

He smiled and kissed the finger on his lips, then started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

They reached Trevor's apartment and he unlocked the door. Stepping inside he flipped on the light and invited her in. She was surprised that his color scheme was so close to the one in her own apartment back in Virginia. Trevor brought her bag in, the one he insisted he carry in from the car instead of letting her do so.

"I like your place. We seem to have the same taste."

"I'm not surprised," he told her. "We are more alike than you know, Sarah. We are meant to be together." Taking her hand in his free one, he led her into his bedroom.

"I hope that you are right."

Placing her bag on the chair Trevor asked, "Would you like to change? There is a bathroom through that door."

"I have some sexy lingerie with me, but no fancy night gowns," she gave him a self deprecating grin. "I sleep in a T-shirt and boxers.

"So do I, so in that case," he said as he approached her, "May I undress you?"

"Only if I can do the same in return," she told him.

"Permission granted, Sarah."

Trevor kept eye contact with her as his hands reached for the hem of her top. Slowly lifting it up, their eyes only left each others for the moment that her top passed between. "Sarah, you are SO beautiful!" Trevor told her as he stared at her in her black lace bra.

_**To be continued…..**_


	17. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17_

"My turn," she said reaching for his uniform jacket and sliding it off his shoulders. Then she reached up and removed his tie. Next she began to unbutton his shirt, finally she uncovered flesh. His chest had just a light dusting of hair. She gave a sigh of pleasure and her hands ran over his naked chest.

Trevor smiled and said, "Now that's not fair," and he reached around behind her to undo the clasp of her bra. Sliding it off her shoulders, he whispered almost reverently, "Oh Sarah!" He cupped her breasts in his large hands and Mac sighed in pleasure.

When his thumbs stroked her nipples she nearly melted. Her legs shook and Trevor noticed. He guided her to the bed so she could sit down. "You make me weak in the knees, Trevor," she shuddered and closed her eyes.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever see Sarah, and I want to make love to you so badly."

"I want that too," she said as she stood and began to remove her pants and the black lace panties that matched the bra that was now on the chair in the corner. Once she stood naked next to the bed, Mac threw Trevor a look with an arched eyebrow as if to ask 'what he was waiting for'.

Grinning, Trevor took the hint and finished stripping. Mac was very happy with what she saw as he approached her and they both got into bed.

Trevor pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. "Sarah, I love you so much, how much longer until you will become my wife?"

"I do love you Trevor, but I'm just not sure about getting married."

"Why, my love?"

"Because I am lousy at relationships. So if we just spend our time together, without being married, when things end it will be easier to just walk away rather than getting a divorce."

"Sarah, I will never walk away from you. I want to have children with you and eventually grow old with."

"Oh Trevor! That sounds so wonderful, but you forget my telling you that I am lousy at relationships."

"Oh, but, you have never had a relationship with me! Sarah with our love, together we can do anything."

A tear slid down her cheek because the life he was describing was something she had always wanted, but had stopped even dreaming that it could be in her future.

"Sarah, please give our love a chance! I can envision our children nursing at your beautiful breasts, teaching that child to walk, then ride a bike. Can't you see that?"

She had closed her eyes when he started to describe their future and she could almost feel that baby in her arms. Tears were choking her, keeping from saying anything when she opened her eyes to look him in the eyes. All she could do was nod. "Oh my love you won't regret it! We will be so happy together! Now how soon can we start our life together?"

Swallowing deeply she told him, "As soon as possible."

"Wonderful! Now can I make love to you, Sarah?"

"Oh yes I would like that very much!"

The kiss started out sweet and tender, but quickly heated up. When the kiss ended Trevor grinned at her and then buried his face in her cleavage. Mac sighed in pleasure when he felt his hands move up to play with her nipples. Trevor kissed his way down her body and teased her 'inny' belly button with his tongue until he reached her curls.

Parting her legs in anticipation of what was to come, Mac gasped out his name when he took her clit into his mouth and gave it a lot of loving attention. She drew a gasping breath when he inserted a finger into her dripping wet core. Her breath actually stopped for a moment when he added another finger.

"Sarah, please say you're ready for me!" he pleaded with her as he rose above her.

All she could do was nod fervently.

With a pleased smile he sank into her body. Several moments later Trevor could sense her approaching climax to enhance her pleasure he reached down to stroke her clit with his thumb.

Mac's eyes popped open at this new sensation, they had been closed in anticipation of her climax, but this change things. Meeting Trevor's gaze with a look of joy on her face, he gave her a tender smile and then said, "I love you Sarah."

She would have told him she loved him too, but at that moment her world flew apart, and a heartbeat later so did Trevor's.

_**To be continued…..**_


	18. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18_

After the third time they made love Trevor told her, "We really should try and get some sleep, I have a big day planned for us tomorrow."

"You mean we aren't just going to spend the day in bed?!" she asked with a grin that he couldn't see because they were laying side by side with her head on his shoulder.

"Well we could, but then you would miss all the sightseeing I had planned and the moonlight picnic on the beach to finish off the day."

Giving him a hug, she snuggled in closer and said, "That sounds amazing! As long as we can make love on that beach tomorrow night, then I am all for it."

"That's a promise," he told her.

"I love you," Mac whispered.

She might have heard him say the same back to her, but she was already asleep.

Gerald and Adel arrived in Texas to be met by her foreman Clemet Steele because leaving her car in long term parking was just too expensive for her frugal personality. He was a barrel-chested man that demonstrated his immense strength when he hefted six of their ten pieces of luggage on his own.

With no reaction at all Adel picked up two of the last four, she took delight in Gerald's open mouthed amazement at Clem's ability. When Gerald saw the look on his wife's face, he gave her a sheepish grin and grabbed the last two bags and headed out of the airport after Clem.

They crossed under the Circle C ranch sign and Gerald looked around for the house. He was shocked when it didn't appear until more than a half a mile later. "How big is your ranch, Adel?" he questioned.

"You do realize that since we got married it is our ranch, and the answer is fifteen hundred acres."

"Adel! There is no reason to call this our ranch! This ranch has been in your family for generations, I don't deserve any portion of this land."

"My darling, we are married and what is mine is yours, that goes for everything, good or bad. Please understand that I want it that way."

Gerald sat there staring at her for a time. She could see the wheels turning in his mind. Finally after a considerable pause, he said, "If that is what you want then that is the way it will be, my love."

A chuckle came from the driver's seat of the car and Clem muttered just loud enough for the couple in the back seat to hear, "Wise man!"

Adel and Gerald shared a look and then laughed.

The car pulled up in front of a large white two story farm house, clearly more than one hundred years old, but clearly well kept and maintained. Once again Clem took the six bags like he did at the airport. Gerald and Adel took the same ones they had before and followed Clem up the wide staircase to Adel's bedroom.

They would have started unpacking right away except Clem's wife Brenda called up the stairs telling them lunch was ready.

Gerald discovered that Brenda was a great cook and that she had met Clem when she came to work at the ranch five years ago. It had been love at first sight, when their eyes had finally met. At first Clem had come into the kitchen on Brenda's first day of work in his muddy work boots.

She began to yell at him when he stopped her by apologizing and removing his boots. He finally looked up with his hand outstretched to introduce himself.

Their eyes met and Brenda later told people that she melted when she saw his deep blue eyes. Clem declared that it was the sparkle in her chocolate brown eyes that stole his heart.

They had their first date that night, were engaged two dates later, and married three months to the day that they met.

_**To be continued…..**_


	19. Chapter 19

_Chapter 19_

In the afternoon Adel took Gerald on a tour of the ranch in one of the four golf carts. Gerald was amazed at the size and scope of the property. At the stables they got out of the cart so Adel could introduce him to the horses. Once again he was stunned at how many horses there were. Adel pointed out hers, a golden Palomino named Egypt.

Then she brought him to a stall with a large brown horse that she had to tell him was a Morgan, because he hadn't recognized the breed. "He is a good and gentle mount that I think would be perfect for you to learn on. His name is Neptune. What do you think of him?"

Gerald drew her into his arms and kissed her before saying, "Adel, my love, if you think he is good for me, then I am sure he will be perfect."

"Good, then what do you say about continuing the tour of the ranch?"

"Sounds great," he told her.

They returned in time for dinner and were surprised that Brenda had made a romantic dinner for two with candlelight and soft music playing as well. After the wonderful meal they danced for a while and then they headed upstairs to unpack their luggage before going to bed. However, when they got to their room they found the job already done!

Adel guessed that Clem had done it, but Gerald thought that it had to be Clem's wife, Brenda.

With less to do than they thought they had Gerald and Adel showered together and then went to bed.

The next morning started with a hearty breakfast made by Brenda and then Gerald and Adel were off to the stables for Gerald's first riding lesson. She was pleased at how quickly he took to riding. He almost seemed to have been in the saddle for years. However, she had to insist that they stop after two hours, even though Gerald wanted to continue. Adel informed him that if he didn't take a break his backside would regret it.

Lunch was slightly painful on his backside and he told his wife how glad he was that they had stopped when they did. Brenda who saw how gingerly he sitting and recognized the problem, quickly left the room and came back with a small pillow. Without a word she handed it to Gerald.

The recipient of the pillow looked over at his wife and saw she was a hard time restraining her laughter. Giving her a sheepish grin, he put the pillow on his seat, thanked Brenda, and proceeded to sit down to eat his lunch. Both agreed that the next riding lesson would skip a day.

Trevor took Mac to some of the most amazing sites on the island. As the evening approached Trevor stopped at another of his favorite restaurants to pick up the picnic basket he had ordered for them earlier in the week.

"I just can't believe the breathtaking vistas there are around every corner!" Mac exclaimed as Trevor took her around the island.

"Just wait until you see the beach we are going to!" he told her as they drove along the coast.

She looked out the window and gasped at how far below them was the sand. "How in the world will we get down to that beach?!"

He grinned, "We just drive around the curve of the island until we come back to the sand. I promise you won't have to climb down the cliff to have our picnic!"

Mac roller her eyes at him and waited to see if he kept his promise.

Once they reached the beach he opened the trunk of his car and handed Mac a blanket and her beach bag she had brought while he took the large picnic basket. They left the parking lot and headed down the beach to a secluded area where Trevor put the picnic basket and turned to Mac to get the plaid blanket.

He smiled at her when he found that she was already spreading the blanket on the sand. Mac grinned back at him letting him know she was capable.

_**To be continued…..**_


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20_

Trevor knew he didn't have to ask Mac if she was ready to eat. He had learned all about her healthy appetite, so as soon as they were both sitting on the blanket and started setting out the food.

The basket was filled with finger foods they took turns feeding each other. Mac couldn't stop sneaking bites of the fresh pineapple. Trevor caught her and teasingly grabbed for the bowl.

Laughing, Mac held it out of his reach. Trevor lunged for it across the blanket and they ended up entwined in each other arms with the bowl of pineapple trapped between their bodies.

They were eye to eye, laying on the blanket. Both of them started laughing, but before long they were kissing. Things heated up pretty quickly.

Clothes started coming off and the pineapple was forgotten as they began to make love. Lying side by side in the afterglow, Trevor pulled her head onto his shoulder and said, "I hope that we settle all of our disagreements that way."

Mac giggled, and told him, "I hope so too, but I don't know about the pineapple."

"Well we needed to wait for a time before going back into the water and this was a great way to spend it."

"Shall we go swimming now?" she asked, then added, "Should we put on our suits?"

Trevor looked around, "There is no one near, I think we are good as is." He got up and offered her his hand and they ran into the water together.

After playing and splashing in the water for a time they returned to the blanket on the sand and made love again.

Pulling half the blanket up over themselves they fell asleep in each others arms.

On Sunday they discussed what to do. Did they want to do more sightseeing or stay at Trevor's place and indulge in each other? Mac had to fly home that evening because she had work on Monday morning.

It didn't take too much talk to decide that they would rather spend their time alone than go out in public. That day she found out that Vince was a pretty good cook. "I'm so glad that you are such a good cook," she told him.

"Why is that?" Trevor wanted to know.

"Because if we had to rely on my cooking skills we would starve!"

Trevor laughed, "I guess that means I should give you some cooking lessons once we are married."

Mac was actually surprised that Trevor didn't want to talk about the wedding that afternoon. She had figured that after she had told him she wanted to be married as soon as possible he would want to start making plans.

After dinner she packed up her bag and Trevor regretfully took her to the airport.

As soon as he got back from the airport Trevor placed a call to his sister. Liiani was just getting home where AJ was waiting for her. She smiled at him with a shrug and answered the call.

"How goes it sis?"

"What do you want Trev?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well I do have a question for you, but you don't have to be that way about it."

"Sorry Trev, today was a bad day. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. What did you need?"

"I got Sarah to agree to marry me as soon as possible, so I was wondering if you and your AJ would mind sharing your day with us? Now I know that you have done all the planning so if the two of you would agree I would be willing to cover all the expenses."

"AJ is right here so let me ask him," she put the phone on 'mute' and explained to her fiancé what her brother was proposing.

"Has he talked to Mac about this?" AJ wanted to know.

Liiani put the question to her brother and then reported to AJ that Mac did not know. "Do you think that would be a problem?" she asked.

"Because I am her Commanding Officer she might be self conscious about it. However, if she is on board then I am okay with the idea as long as you are, Darlin'."

_**To be continued…..**_


	21. Chapter 21

_Chapter 21_

She grinned and said into the phone, "Trev, get Mac's okay on the idea, then we are good to go. However, we will share the costs with you fifty, fifty."

"But you did all the planning, at least let me carry seventy five percent of the cost."

Liiani had put the call on speaker phone, so AJ heard the suggestion. Nodding he agreed with Trevor's offer. "Okay, big brother, we are a go as soon as Mac is on board."

"I will call her after her plane lands and give you a call tomorrow with her answer.

She agreed and the call ended.

"That was very generous of you, Darlin', to be willing to share your special day with your brother," AJ said as he put his arm around shoulder.

"Don't you mean our special day? And you were willing to share our day with Trev and Mac too."

"It seemed that you were in favor of the idea, that was why I went for it."

"Having a double wedding just means more love going around. I hope Mac says yes."

"That sounds beautiful, now should we head upstairs?" he asked leading her towards the stairs.

"Sounds good. Remember you said you were going to cook tonight."

"I remember," AJ laughed as she opened the door to her apartment.

AJ took Akaliiani into his arms after they entered her apartment and kissed her tenderly. "Why don't you go and take a bath and relax while I get dinner ready."

"Do you know how much I love you!?"

"Yes I do, now go," he told her, giving her a pat on her six.

Tossing him a wink over her shoulder, Akaliiani left the room.

It was hard to keep his mind on cooking when his thoughts kept drifting to Akaliiani naked in the tub just a few rooms away.

Akaliiani let the problems of her day float away in the heat and comfort of the hot bath. She felt bad that she had been mean to Trevor on the phone and was glad that he forgave her.

After getting out of the tub she dressed in mint green silk pajamas. The set had a short sleeved, crop top and Capri pants. She decided not to wear anything on her feet and padded into the kitchen barefooted.

"I was just coming to get you," AJ told her when she came in.

"We are truly in sync," she said, as she stood on tip-toe to kiss him.

"Ready to eat, Darlin'?" he asked when the kiss ended.

"Oh yes! What did you make? It smells wonderful!"

"Fried chicken, homemade coleslaw and roasted green beans. Then we have raspberry cheesecake for desert."

"Good lord! That sounds amazing, and did you say homemade coleslaw?!"

"Yes, its easy and I always think that fresh is best."

"You are fantastic, AJ Chegwidden! How soon can we eat?!"

"As soon as you set the table," he told her as he started carrying food in.

Akaliiani couldn't compliment AJ enough on the meal that he had made. She was about to reach for a third piece of fried chicken when he reminded her that there was cheesecake for desert.

The moan Akaliiani issued as she took her first bite of the cheesecake drew AJ's gaze to her. Akaliiani's eyes were closed and the expression on her face was the same as when they were making love.

Her next bite elicited the same reaction and AJ could take it no longer. He got to his feet, swept her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom, with the fork still in her hand.

"AJ! I wasn't finished eating!" she protested with a giggle.

"You can eat later and dishes can wait too, however, I can't! You made me so hot with your moaning that I need to make love to you now."

"How can I argue against those reasons?" she laughed wrapping her arms around his neck as she nuzzled his ear.

He shuddered because that was one of his turn-ons and she knew that. AJ tried to move his ear away from her treacherously persistent lips. When she once again nuzzled him, he got his revenge!

They had arrived in the bedrooms AJ simply dropped her onto the bed. Her gasp lasted through the first bounce, but by the second one she was laughing.

Holding her arms open to him, AJ joined her on the bed. They made love twice before deciding that it was time to finish the desert that got interrupted earlier.

_**To be continued…..**_


	22. Chapter 22

_Chapter 22_

"Sarah, how was your flight?" Trevor asked when he placed a call to Mac moments after she got home.

"You timed your call just right. I've only been home nine and a half minutes."

"I'm just that good," he laughed. "But although I do love to just hear your voice, I do have a reason for calling."

"What would that be?" she asked, instantly worried that the weekend hadn't gone as well and she had thought and he was calling to brush her off. So that was why he hadn't been talking about wedding plans! She was expecting the worst.

He heard the change in her voice and said, "Hey you! Nothing is wrong. It's a good thing. Remember you said you wanted to be married as soon as possible?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Well I had an idea, but needed to make sure that it was okay with my kid sister and your Admiral. They have agreed to share their wedding day with us as long as you are happy with the idea."

Mac sunk onto the couch that she had been standing near and said through the lump in her throat. "How kind of them! I love the idea!"

"That's great! I will let them know and you should probably start looking for a dress."

"I will do that. Do you think it would be okay if I called your sister and ask if there is anything I can do to help her with the planning things?"

"I think that's a great idea, Sarah. I'm sure she would love the help."

A yawn caught her by surprise, but then she remembered how little sleep they had gotten over the weekend. "I think I will wait until tomorrow to call her. I need to sleep soon." With a laugh she reported, "Someone kept me from getting much sleep this weekend."

"Now who could that have been?" he laughed in return.

"I love you Trevor Benet and I will be counting the days until the wedding." Her statement ended on another yawn.

"I will too, now go to bed Sarah. I love you too."

Trevor was still smiling when he dialed his sister's phone number. Liiani and AJ had just sat down to finishing eating the raspberry cheesecake they had abandoned earlier.

"Hey Trev, what's up?" Akaliiani asked when she heard her brother's voice.

"I talked to Sarah tonight…"

"Sarah?" his sister interrupted.

"Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, my fiancé," he told her.

"You mean Mac," his sister stated.

"I call her Sarah, but that's not important now. I called her about the double wedding and she loved the idea, so we are a go. Sarah said she would call you tomorrow to see if there is anything she could do to help with the plans."

"Great, I will tell AJ and when Mac calls I will get her involved."

After hanging up she told AJ what he already surmised. "So double is the word of the day?" he questioned with a smile.

"Yes, and I guess Mac wants to get involved with the planning."

"Is there enough left for her to help with?"

"Plenty for her to get involved with."

"She will be happy about that."

In Texas, Gerald's second riding lesson had gone even better than the first and by the middle of the week he was riding out with Adel as she did her ranch work on her beautiful Palomino named Egypt. Gerald had become a favorite of Clem and Brenda Steele. Clem had worked for her for over twenty years and Brenda for five, they were both protective of Adel. They had been suspicious when they heard she had gotten married in Virginia. They worried that he was after her for her wealth. The ranch was large and profitable, which made Adel a very sought after woman.

Adel had dated over the years but had never found 'the one'. That was part of the reason they were concerned when they had been told she was bringing home a new husband from her trip. But after several days on the ranch, both Clem and Brenda were willing to give their full approval of Gerald Benet. They could see so clearly how much he loved her and that she adored him in return.

_**To be continued…..**_


	23. Chapter 23

_Chapter 23_

Gerald truly won Brenda over when he offered to cook dinner one night. She was very surprised when he sliced up several potatoes, an entire red onion and several cloves of garlic. He wrapped them all up in tin foil and added butter and salt before closing it up. Then he peeled and chopped up more carrots than four people could eat, again he put them in tin foil and added brown sugar and butter before wrapping them up.

"How many people are you planning to feed with all those carrots?" Brenda wanted to know.

"Just the four of us," Gerald answered her.

"You are going to have a lot of left overs with that much!"

"Trust me, every bit of them will be gone and you'll be wanting more."

Brenda shook her head and said, "I'll make you a deal, whoever is wrong does the dishes tonight!"

Gerald grinned and agreed.

He took four T-bone steaks and all the tin foil packets out to the grill that he had preheated. Just a few minutes later he was calling the others to come to the table. Everyone got a medium rare steak one the plate in front of them, and in two bowls on the table he poured the of the foil packets.

Brenda was amazed at how tender and favorable the potatoes were and the carrots were like a candy treat. Adel managed to get the last portion of the potatoes and Clem snagged the last of the carrots. They all told him that the next time he made that meal, he needed to make a lot more of both the potatoes and carrots.

Gerald threw Brenda a look that said, 'I told you so!'

She sighed but before she headed to the kitchen to do the dishes she told him he could cook anytime he wanted. Adel and Clem were both impressed that she was giving her kitchen over to Gerald.

Over the pot of strong morning coffee that Mac shared with AJ on Monday morning, she asked what Liiani's work schedule was. He told her she got up around noon so she could get some chores done before she went to work at fifteen hundred hours.

Mac asked him if he thought calling Liiani on her lunch hour. AJ told her it was a good idea, because the time Mac got off work, Liiani would already be on duty. She thanked him and took a fresh mug of coffee to her office to start the day.

Liiani had gotten up before her alarm went off and started a load of laundry before her phone rang. She had just started thinking about what she wanted for breakfast, but when she Mac's voice, eating went out of her mind, as it filled with wedding plans.

"Hello, this is Mac, the Admiral said this might be a good time to call."

"It's perfect," Liiani responded. "Trev said you wanted to help with the wedding plans."

"I do," Mac chuckled at the choice of words. "As long as you don't mind me getting involved?"

"Mac! It is going to be your wedding too! Why don't I tell you what we already have in place and then you can tell me what you might want to change."

"I would want to change anything you already have in place," Mac assured her.

"Well let me go over things with you. The location we chose was AJ's back yard because of his beautiful garden. Is that okay with you?"

"Oh yes! I have seen his yard and it would be perfect. You would need to order chairs, could I do that for you?"

"I ordered seventy already, but can increase that to include whatever amount of guests you would have."

Mac thought for a moment and then said, "I can't of anyone that the Admiral has probably already invited. You might check with Trevor though."

"I'll do that," Liiani told her. "Now as for flowers, I haven't ordered anything yet but was thinking about roses because AJ has so many in his garden already."

"That's perfect. Have you chosen the colors yet?"

"I'm going to wear my mother's dress and its white but I need to find a veil to go with it. I was thinking very bold colors for the bouquets."

"I would probably go with a cream or ecru dress, I don't look good in stark white, but the bold colors would work with what I have in mind too so am good with that."

_**To be continued…..**_


	24. Chapter 24

_Chapter 24_

"Great! Would you like to order them then? I don't think we will need boutonniers for the guys since they will be in their dress uniforms."

"I'll ask Trevor for sure, but I can tell you I would love to see him in his dress uniform. What else needs to be done?"

"We have a cake tasting scheduled for Saturday at two, if you would like to come along to that."

"Do you think chocolate will be an option? It's my favorite," Mac asked.

"Oh I hope so! It's my favorite too!"

"We seem to have a lot of things in common," Mac responded.

"And soon you'll be my sister. Mac I'm really glad that you and Trevor are getting married."

"I grew up an only child, having a family will be very different for me."

"Wow! From zero to four siblings, with three nieces and nephews with one on the way, in a heartbeat."

"One on the way? Are you expecting?!"

"Oh no, not me, David's wife Nicci is the one adding to the family."

"I'm sorry Liiani. I shouldn't have assumed something like that."

"You don't have to be sorry Mac. I mean it could be possible, but we are being careful until after the wedding. We both want kids so I will hopefully be adding to your Aunt roll call sometime in the near future."

"I'm glad, and maybe Trevor and I can do the same for you too."

"Oh that would be great! I can't wait for that to happen!"

"What about music? The Admiral has that patio out back that would be great for dancing," Mac questioned.

"AJ had been insisting on paying for things so I was trying to save money, and now Trevor wants to make a huge contribution to the wedding funds. I was planning on having the ceremony at two in the afternoon, between meals so we wouldn't have to have a meal for the guests."

"Hey, now that Trevor and I are a part of this you have to let us contribute financially!"

"Well you aren't adding any more to the guest list, so there is no extra cost there. You were going to take care of the flowers, if you want to pay for them and maybe the cake too?"

"We would be happy to pick up the cost of both the flowers and cake, but I would also like to add a band for dancing and caterers for an evening meal."

"Oh Mac that would be too much!" Liiani protested.

"Not at all! I have been saving for years and I am sure Trevor has a good savings account too."

"When I talked to him last night he wanted to pay for everything, but I finally talked him down to just seventy five percent of the cost. So you might want to check with him before adding all these extra things."

"Even if he is against it, I can handle that much on my own, so please let me do this for you and the Admiral. He has been such a great influence in my life and I don't have many female friends, but I think we will be friends even if we weren't going to become sisters."

Liiani was choked up at Mac's offer, "That is really sweet of you, Mac and if you want to do that then I think it would be an awesome idea."

"Good, then it's settled. Would you like to go with me one night this week to look for my dress?"

"I have Thursday night off and I still need to get my veil, even though I have been looking on line so I have a good idea of what I want, I think it would be fun to go together."

"I'm looking forward to it! How about if I go home and change clothes then meet you at your house so we only need to take one car?" Mac suggested.

"Perfect!" Liiani agreed and the call ended.

The days seemed to fly by and before either of them knew it Thursday had arrived. They had added dinner at Liiani's apartment before taking off for dress shopping.

_**To be continued…..**_


	25. Chapter 25

_Chapter 25_

Knocking on Liiani's door, Mac was surprised when Admiral Chegwidden answered the door. He was wearing a T-shirt, faded jeans, and nothing on his feet. She had never seen him quite that casual before. He invited her in and asked what she wanted to drink as he headed back to the kitchen.

Liiani was there pulling something that smelled fantastic out of the oven when AJ and Mac entered the room. She greeted Mac and asked her to set the table while she instructed AJ to get the salad and dressings out of the fridge and take them to the table too.

"What else can I do to help Admiral?" Mac asked when she was done setting the table.

"Oh no you don't! You can clearly see that I am not in uniform, and in just a few weeks you will be my sister-in-law, Mac. So anytime we are out of the office you can call me AJ."

"I will try and remember that, AJ," she said with a smile.

Just then Liiani came into the dining room with the chicken and noodle casserole. "That smells amazing!" Mac told her as she filled the plates with the food.

They ate quickly and then the ladies said good-bye to AJ to go shopping.

Mac found her dress quickly, it was only the second one she tried on, but she knew it was perfect the moment she put it on. The ivory dress was backless with short sleeves and a scoop neckline in front. It was form fitting to her hips and then flared out in a tulip skirt. Mac decided on a short veil that only went down to her mid back in the same ivory as her dress.

Liiani had just about given up hope that she would find a veil that night. They were in the second store and had been looking there for almost an hour and it was just about time for the store to close, Liiani was really disappointed that she wasn't finding that was just right. Finally she decided that she didn't want a veil after all, instead she was going to have her hair braided with fresh flowers.

Mac left her dress at the shop because she would need to find the shoes she was going to wear and then have the alterations to the hemline of her dress.

She went back to Liiani's place, she had left her car there and they had taken Liiani's to go shopping. She couldn't turn down her future sister-in-law when she invited Mac in for desert, especially when she was told it was chocolate.

They walked in to find AJ reclining on the couch with a beer in hand watching John Wayne in Hellfighters. He got up when they came in, kissed Akaliiani and smiled at Mac, asking how their shopping went.

As the three of them headed into the kitchen, both women reported that Mac had found the perfect dress. Liiani served up the brownies as AJ added a scoop of Mississippi Mud ice cream on top.

In the living room they told AJ about Mac's dress and how Liiani had decided not to have a veil but both were happy with their choices. Mac finally said good night and headed home to give Trevor a call.

"I was hoping to hear your sexy voice tonight, Sarah," Trevor told her when she got through to him.

"I had a very productive evening with your sister. We went shopping and I found my dress tonight!"

"That's great news! Did you find things you could help out with?"

"Yes, I'm going to hire a caterer for a dinner after the ceremony and a band for dancing. We are also having a cake tasting on Saturday, both Liiani and I are wanting chocolate."

"Sounds good to me, I like chocolate too. I should be there Friday night. Can you pick me up at the airport, or should I get a rental car?"

"Of course I can pick you up! But I thought you weren't going to be here until the next weekend."

"Ummm when there is cake tasting this weekend?" he laughed.

Mac sighed, "I guess that means less for the rest of us," she teased.

"You have such a tough life!"

"I know!" she replied, and they both laughed.

"What do you think about keeping the fact that we are getting married with AJ and your sister?"

"AJ? You're calling the Admiral, AJ now?"

"Yeah, he told me too as long as we weren't in the office, but what do you think of my idea?"

"I'm fine with it. I think it will be a fine surprise for everyone."

"Good, I'll tell Liiani and AJ that we want to keep our involvement a secret."

_**To be continued…..**_


	26. Chapter 26

_Chapter 26_

Trevor arrived at the airport Friday night and Mac took him right to Callisto's. She was thrilled to find out that he loved Italian as much as she did.

The next afternoon they met AJ and Akaliiani at the bakery. The four of them were shown to a table by the window and the clerk brought out one cake at a time. By the time they had brought out the third non-chocolate selection AJ asked the clerk, "Do you have any chocolate selections?"

"Yes, we do but so few want them, we always bring them out last."

"Well both of these brides love chocolate, so could we just skip to those now?"

The clerk hesitated but, when she saw the determined look on all four faces she said, "I guess so."

"Then please do so," AJ instructed.

She brought out the three different chocolate selections and both Mac and Liiani moaned like they were have orgasms at the last one. AJ wasn't sure if Trevor was having the same problem that he was, but by the way he was squirming in his seat, AJ suspected he had the same predicament.

"So, I am guessing that this one is the one you ladies want?" questioned Trevor.

Mac had just put another large fork full of cake in her mouth, so Liiani answered with an emphatic 'YES!'

So then all the four had left to do was discuss what style and they wanted and they were done for the day.

Three weeks later the wedding plans were well underway until Liiani got a phone call early one morning. AJ was out on his morning run when the phone rang and she heard her brother Vince's voice say 'hello'.

"Hey Vince what has you calling so early?"

"Well I was wondering how you and your Admiral would mind sharing your wedding day?"

Liiani was shocked! How had word that Trevor and Mac were getting married with them gotten out? They had worked so hard to keep it a secret. Maybe she could bluff her way out of this. "Ummm what do you mean?"

"Because we just found out that Collette is pregnant and we wanted to get married before she was showing. Do you think you could share your day with your big brother?!"

Liiani tried so very hard to keep from laughing. How was she going to handle this? "I would have to ask AJ before I said yes, Vince."

"Oh sure, that makes sense. What do you think he will say?"

Then the door opened and AJ came in just the way she liked him, not wringing wet but still sweat, but his heart rate was certainly up. She smiled as he came over to her and gave her a big hug. "Vince, hold on, AJ just came in. Let me put the question to him."

"Sure, sis, go ahead," Vince encouraged.

Putting the phone on 'mute' Akaliiani finally allowed her laughter full reign. AJ stood there not sure what was going on, but was always glad to see Akaliiani so happy. "What's going on Darlin'?" he asked.

"He," laugh, "He," laugh, "He wants," laugh, taking a deep breath she tried again, "He wants to get married with us! Turns out Collette is pregnant."

He was almost turning purple trying to keep his laughter at bay, all he could do was gasp out, "Sure, the more the merrier!"

Taking the phone off 'mute' Liiani told her brother, "AJ is happy to share our big day with the two of you, Vince. Tell Collette it's a go and congratulations to both of you on the baby."

"Thanks, sis, and could you not tell anyone about this? Let it be a surprise to everyone. I'll send you a check to help cover costs, and Collette said to just get her the same kind of bouquet that you are going to carry. Again, thanks for doing this for us, sis."

"You're welcome, Vince. See the two of you in a few weeks." She hung up the phone and she and AJ lost it.

"I don't know how I am going to face Mac this morning," he told her.

"Do you think that with Mac being the other bride you should tell her about this addition?

"Do you think she will say no?"

"How could she when she and Trevor joined us too?"

"True, so why not let her be surprised just like everyone else?"

"Okay then we can let it be."

_**To be continued…..**_


	27. Chapter 27

_Chapter 27_

While all this insanity was going on with his children, in Texas Gerald had settled into ranch life as if he had been born to it. Adel was amazed at how seamlessly Gerald blended into life at the ranch. It was as if he had lived there all his life.

They were both looking forward to going back to Virginia for Liiani and AJ's wedding. There had been a lot talk about what to get them for a wedding gift. Both knew that the couple didn't really need anything and as it was they were going to have to figure out how to combine two homes into one. So Gerald and Adel began to discuss what they might be able to donate to in the younger couple's name. Both had many suggestions but couldn't come to a final decision.

Finally what they decided was to talk to both Liiani and AJ to see if they could figure out an organization that they may favor.

AJ brought in the morning mail as he had been doing since staying at Akaliiani's place when she was working. "It seems you have a letter from your brother Vince," he told her handing her the envelope.

"Thank you," she said and a moment later gasped, "AJ!"

"What?!" he questioned, returning to her side. He had been on his way to take a shower after his run.

"Vince sent a check to help with the wedding expenses. What kind of things does he think we are doing here?! Look at the size of this check!"

AJ took it from her hand and his eyes widened at the amount. "Ten thousand dollars?! Isn't that double what you have spent?"

"More than! Now I don't know what Collette's dress cost but they should have already covered that. Everything included we were still under four thousand. I guess we can just subtract one third of the total and give him back the rest of it when he gets here.

"Sounds like a plan Darlin'."

Then it was one week before the wedding and Mac and Liiani were having their weekly lunch to discuss whatever still needed to be done before the wedding. Both were happy to discover that there was nothing left to do! Everything was ready for the wedding which was only six days away.

"Thursday night AJ's daughter Francesca will be coming in from Italy and staying in his guest room. Then on Friday my family will begin arriving. Vince and Collette can stay in my guest room. Gerald and Adel will of course stay in his place and I thought I would put David, Nicci, and Joyce in his guest room. That leaves only Sam, Susan, and Peter to get a hotel room for," Akaliiani told her.

"That's not necessary, Liiani! They can stay in my guest room," Mac said.

"Mac that is very thoughtful of you, but I don't mind getting them a hotel room."

"Liiani, remember they are going to be my family too. Please allow me to do this."

Liiani placed her hand over Mac's on the table and sincerely said, "Thank you Mac, and I have to say that it already feels like you are my sister even if it's technically a week away."

Choking up a bit, all Mac could say, "Thank you, I feel the same."

"Do you think that we should schedule another lunch together, say maybe on Thursday?"

"Good idea, just in case anything has come up at the last minute," Mac agreed.

Their Thursday lunch went well because no problems had come up since Monday. However, Mac could tell that Liiani had something on her mind. Are you getting cold feet?"

"About marrying AJ? No, never!?"

"Then what is going on? I can tell there is something bothering you."

"Ummm," Liiani hesitated.

"Remember, you think of me as a sister."

"It's not being a sister that is the problem…" she trailed off.

"Oooooh, you're about to become a step-mom and AJ's daughter is coming into town tonight, isn't she," asked Mac.

"Yes," she sighed.

"You will be fine Liiani! Francesca is really nice. AJ had a party to introduce her to her staff and she was charming."

"But will she like me as a step mother?"

"She will love you, and if she doesn't, AJ can always send her back to Italy!" Mac laughed.

Liiani laughed too and Mac could tell her new friend was feeling better about meeting Francesca.

_**To be continued…..**_


	28. Chapter 28

_Chapter 28_

Because Liiani was taking her two week vacation as a honeymoon and a sick day so she could have tomorrow off to collect her family from the airport. However she did have to work today so she wasn't going to meet Francesca until she got off work that night. She would drive out to AJ's after she got off duty to meet her future step daughter that was only four years younger than she was.

Pulling up in front of AJ's house that night Liiani wondered why she never started biting her nails. Even trying to keep what Mac told her in her mind, she still had to admit she was very nervous about going inside. Taking a deep breath she walked to the door. AJ answered her knock and greeted her with a tender kiss.

"It will be fine, Darlin'." AJ told her as they walked into the living room.

A lovely brunette woman got up from the couch and approached them, AJ spoke first, "Francesca this is my fiancé, Akaliiani. Darlin' this is my daughter, Francesca."

At the odd look on Francesca's face when AJ had said her name Akaliiani quickly held out her hand and said, "Most people shorten my name to Liiani. It is a pleasure to meet you Francesca."

"Thank you Liiani, Papa told me you were worried about meeting me, but let me assure you that as long as keep him as happy as I see you are now, then you and I will be very okay."

"Then I have a pretty easy job, he is a great guy."

"I think so too," Francesca agreed.

"Okay you two, enough about me, Akaliiani would you like your evening snack now?"

"You didn't have to do that tonight."

"It was no trouble Darlin'. I just had to hide it from Francesca, I know she likes chocolate too."

"Papa, you kept chocolate from me?!" Francesca teased with her hands on her hips.

"Yes daughter, or there would have been none left for Akaliiani."

Francesca laughed, "So true!"

The ladies sat down at the table as AJ brought in a tray full of chocolate frosted brownies.

"Oh AJ!" and "Oh Papa!" sounded at the same time and in the same tone of voice.

"I take it you two ladies approve," AJ laughed.

"Oh yes!" was their answer.

He smiled and served each woman that he loved a large square of brownie, giving himself a smaller portion. AJ should have known it would happen, but the cake tasting had been a few weeks ago, and it had been a busy time in between. However, when Akaliiani took her first bite the moan and ecstatic look came over her face he had to start reciting the SEAL training manual to keep from embarrassing himself. It became even worse when he saw the look on his daughter's face.

AJ gave her a stern look that actually made her giggle. That was the first time Liiani had been aware of the other two since she started eating her brownie. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Not wanting to really embarrass her father Francesca answered, "Nothing really. I'm just glad that Papa is happy and I am looking forward to the wedding the day after tomorrow."

Before Liiani could question this AJ said, "Thank you daughter, that is very kind of you."

Deciding to go along with it so there was no conflict, Liiani answered, "Speaking of tomorrow, I had better get some rest so I don't screw up picking up people from the airport."

"You should have let me take tomorrow off too so I could help you with all that," AJ told her.

"Darling I can handle it, really. I will be fine."

"Alright, but I too have to be up early tomorrow so should go to bed now too."

"You two go ahead, I will clean up from our snack and then head to bed myself."

"Thank you Francesca," both AJ and Liiani said in unison and then laughed at the coincidence.

AJ left early for work the next morning so Akaliiani and Francesca had breakfast together before Akaliiani reluctantly said she needed to start her airport runs. She and Francesca had really had hit it off and Akaliiani knew she would be sorry when Francesca returned to Italy.

_**To be continued…..**_


	29. Chapter 29

_Chapter 29_

Vince and Collette would be driving in and would arrive about noon. The first airport pick up was actually going to be a double and because of that AJ had traded vehicles with her. He had taken her car to work and left his Escalade for her to use because it was so much bigger. Now she could Gerald and Adel then twenty minutes later David, Nicci, and Joyce would arrive. The Escalade would hold all of them plus their luggage.

Everyone but seven month pregnant Nicci helped to load the luggage. The trip to the house didn't take long and Gerald let everyone into the downstairs apartment that he still had the key too.

Later he planned to talk to Liiani and tell her that she could move any of his personal items that he wasn't taking to Texas into the garage. Then she could rent out the apartment furnished.

But right now they needed to focus on Liiani and AJ's wedding. He was amazed at how calm she was the day before her wedding but then he thought of Liiani and how much his daughter loved her Admiral and knew that was why she was so cool and collected twenty four hours before the ceremony.

However, he and Adel were there to support his daughter and her brother whatever they might need, and they wanted to find some time to talk to them about what organization they might want a donation made in their name.

After lunch with the family that were there, Akaliiani said she needed to head back to the airport to pick up Sam, Susan, and little Peter. She took them over to Mac's apartment and let them in with the key Mac had given her yesterday so they could rest from their flight. Mac would meet them later but she had taken on the job of picking up the wedding dresses. Akaliiani wasn't worried about Mac finding out about the third part of the weddings because Collette would be bringing her dress with her.

She was going to deliver them to AJ's house before heading back to her apartment to meet her guests. Mac put Akaliiani's dress in AJ's room, he had been warned not to peek. Hers went into the guest room that Francesca was using. No one else knew it but Akaliiani had plans for Collette's dress in AJ's den. So far the fact that there would be multiple brides was still a secret.

When Akaliiani got to her place from Mac's she found that Vince and Collette had arrived. She showed them to her guest room after hiding Collette's dress in the Escalade.

Last to arrive in town was Trevor, and Mac was going to pick him up and take him to her apartment.

AJ had called Callisto's the week before and rented their back room so they could all have dinner together. When the owner found out that the dinner was for one of his favorite customer's pre-wedding dinner he insisted on making them something special that was not on the menu.

The evening was a giant success and everyone ate until they were groaning. After the meal was when the fight began. The women tried to put an end to it, but had no luck. After almost a half an hour Gerald got to his feet and glared at his sons and future son-in-law. "Enough! I will pay for dinner and that is that!"

As protests started Adel stood up next to her husband and insisted, "Not another word! We will do this for AJ and Akaliiani!"

When the two of them went up front to pay the bill they found that the owner would not accept their money. All that family drama and then the owner refused to let them pay for any of it. The only thing they could was to thank him profusely.

In the parking lot Akaliiani kissed AJ good night since she was going to spend the night at her apartment and he was going back to his place. They had a hard time parting but finally had to.

Liiani had just climbed into bed when her phone rang, "Hello?" she asked wondering who could be calling at that hour.

"Am I calling too late Darlin'?" came AJ's voice.

"AJ!" she exclaimed with joy.

"I just wanted to hear your voice before calling it a night, and to let you know that I did let Francesca in on the triple wedding like we discussed and she's on board to help in any way that we need her to."

_**To be continued…..**_


	30. Chapter 30

_Chapter 30_

"That's great! Did you get Collette's dress into the den?"

"Yes and it is hanging up so any wrinkles fall out."

"Thank you again for letting me use your Escalade today. I wouldn't have been able to have gathered everyone up from the airport."

"No problem, did you need me to make a trip to your apartment with your car to bring people here?"

"I don't think so, Vince had his car and he will take Collette as well as Sam and his family. Mac only has a Corvette so she and Trevor will be going alone. I will have the rest of them in the Escalade. But thank you for the offer."

"Well then I should probably let you go and get some sleep."

"True, but I hate to hang up, I love hearing your voice."

"After tomorrow we'll be together every night, Darlin'.

"That sounds wonderful to me!"

"Yes it does, now you go to sleep and I will see you tomorrow."

"Alright AJ, good night."

"Good night Akaliiani."

The next morning she woke with a huge smile on her face. Not only was she going to marry the love of her life, but two of her brothers were going to do the same. She got up and made coffee before starting breakfast.

Vince and Collette got up to the smell of coffee. Unfortunately the smell sent Collette running to the bathroom. It had triggered her morning sickness. Akaliiani apologized to Vince while Collette was in the bathroom and again to Collette when she came out.

Both of them told her it was okay and explained that several different things would set Collette off these days. Vince offered to help with breakfast, so while Liiani was scrambling eggs Vince started cooking the bacon. At the first whiff of the frying bacon Liiani gasped and made a mad dash to the bathroom.

Collette and Vince's shared a look spoke volumes. When Liiani came back into the kitchen her brother asked, "How far along are you, sis?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on now! You don't think we would judge you for you and AJ for being pregnant before the wedding when that is the reason we crashed your wedding!" Collette exclaimed.

"Pregnant?!" Liiani protested. "I'm not…" she stopped halfway through her statement at the looks on their faces. A thoughtful look came over her face and she started counting on her fingers. The thoughtful look turned to one of consternation. "Oh my God!" she gasped. "I am pregnant!"

Both Vince and Collette hugged her as they laughed and offered her their congratulations. "So how far along are you?" Collette asked.

"I guess just a little under two months. I've been so busy with the wedding plans that I didn't realize that I was late."

"So I'm guessing AJ doesn't know?" her brother asked.

"How could he?! I just found out a few seconds ago! Please don't tell anyone though, I really want the chance to tell AJ first," she begged.

"Of course we won't say anything to anyone, will we Vince?" Collette asked.

"Wellll…"

Both women punched him in a different arm hard enough for him to protest, "Hey!" The ladies laughed.

"Of course I won't tell him Liiani, I promise."

Not long later they gathered up everyone from downstairs. When the sight of little two year old Joyce caused Liiani to nearly tear up Vince offered to drive so his sister could sit by the child. He could tell that she was going to be a good mother.

Instead of the wedding that should have been foremost on her mind, all Liiani could think about was the baby she was carrying. Would it be a boy or girl? Which would AJ want? What would AJ even think about this?! Would he be upset that she was expecting before they were married? She knew he loved her with all his heart and even though they had talked about having children they hadn't talked about doing it so soon.

By the time they arrived at AJ's house she realized that she hadn't had one thought about the wedding. All her thoughts had been about the baby.

_**To be continued…..**_


	31. Chapter 31

_Chapter 31_

Everyone piled out of the Escalade and there AJ and Francesca stood on the porch ready to greet them. Liiani asked Francesca to show Collette to the den she approached and asked to speak to him in private for a moment. They entered his bedroom where her dress hung in its garment bag on the back of his closet door.

Giving her a big grin he told her, "I promise that I didn't take even one peek at your dress."

"I trust that you didn't, but that wasn't what was on my mind."

"Tell me Darlin'." He encouraged her.

"This morning Collette had a bout of morning sickness when I made coffee," she paused for just a moment before continuing, "and then so did I when Vince made bacon."

She could see the wheels turning in his mind as he tried to process what she had just told him, then he asked, "Akaliiani, are we pregnant?"

"We?" she questioned.

"Yes, Darlin'. Whatever it is we go through it together, so are we expecting? 

Blushing a bit she just nodded, with her eyes on the floor.

A moment later she was lifted into his arms and he was spinning her around the room, "Oh Akaliiani, that is fantastic!"

Her eyes flew up to his, "Really?!"

"Of course!" Then he hesitated, "Unless you don't think so? Are you not happy about this Akaliiani?"

"I am, I was just worried that you would be upset because we weren't married yet."

"Oh my love, you have just given me the most blessed gift in the world! I love you so much!"

"AJ, I'm so glad that you are happy about this!"

"Happy?! Akaliiani I am over the moon! Other than the day you said you would marry me this is the best day of my life!" he assured her.

Feeling better about things now, she felt she could tease him a bit, "What about the day Francesca was born?!"

Hugging her close he told her, "That was a pretty good day too, but it was quite a while ago. This is a whole new life for us."

Grinning she gave him a hug and said, "I should start getting dressed now, you should too."

"Okay, I love you," he told her and gave a kiss and, then he bent down and kissed her tummy too.

Akaliiani couldn't stop smiling as she opened the garment bag, just as Nicci came in, "I just wanted to see if you needed anything?"

"Yes, could you zip up the back of my dress as soon as I get it on?" Akaliiani asked. She stood there in her mother's dress, it was a simple white lace sheath that hugged her curves. The scooped neckline was a perfect frame for the necklace AJ had given her, a simple gold chain with a heart shaped charm on it.

"Oh sure!" Nicci smiled as she came into the room and closed the door behind her.

Once Nicci was done Akaliiani encouraged her to go out in the backyard where all the guests were gathering. AJ had hidden the bridal bouquets in his bathroom just as Akaliiani had asked him to do. She picked them up and delivered them to Mac and Collette. It was only then that the two of them discovered that it was to be a triple wedding. They were both thrilled at the discovery and quickly made a plan to how they would handle things.

The three men in their dress uniforms who were standing to the left of Chaplin Turner did not look out of place. The guests sitting in the rental white chairs simply thought that AJ as the groom was up there with his best man and a grooms man. They had no idea that instead they were looking at three grooms. In actual fact two of the three up there didn't know it either.

It wasn't until there was no bridesmaid or maid of honor coming down the aisle, but instead Akaliiani on her father's arm that they began to wonder what was going on. When she reached AJ's side Gerald took his seat and the four up front turned once again to look back towards the house. Out of the patio doors came bride number two. There were gasps of surprise from all of the guests when Mac walked down the aisle in her ecru wedding dress. Trevor reached out to take her hand and the couple moved to stand to the left of Akaliiani.

_**To be continued…..**_


	32. Chapter 32

_Chapter 32_

Once again the bridal party up front turned to look back at the house and out came another bride. Collette came down the aisle until she reached Vince's side, and they stayed on AJ's right.

Chaplin Turner began the ceremony, "Dearly Beloved as you can see we are gathered here today to join these three lovely brides with their handsome grooms." A few moments later he pronounced them husbands and wives and told the grooms they that they could kiss their brides.

All the couples seemed to have a hard time breaking the kiss until their guests began to applaud. Everyone gathered around the couples to offer their congratulations.

The caterers were there with roast beef, baked chicken, broccoli with cheese casserole, and scalloped potatoes. They had set up on the patio and tables were being set up with the chairs moved around them.

The photographer was running around getting a lot of candid shots and gathering up people for formal shots where ever he could.

Akaliiani had ordered three separate cakes so each couple would be able to cut their own so they could get pictures of them feeding each other. She'd had a bright idea when the double became a triple wedding. Instead of ordering all three cakes the flavor that she and Mac had liked best, she had ordered the third cake in the second favorite flavor so the guests would have a choice.

The band had set up for the dancing and had offered the use of their microphone for toasts and the like. AJ was the first to step up.

"Friends and family, I don't really have a toast to offer at this time, but instead an announcement to make. Mac I know you have been waiting to hear if there was a spot for you in the JAG office in Hawaii. Well, it took a while to get everything in place, but I can tell you that you will have a job when you get to Pearl. The reason this took so long was that the position we have for you was not suitable for a Colonel." AJ took a pause then asked, "Mac will you come forward?"

When she was standing in front of him she was surprised when Trevor handed the Admiral a familiar box. AJ opened it as he was saying, "I would like to be the first to congratulate you Major General Sarah Benet. I am guessing you would like your new husband to perform the salute?"

Trevor took a step closer with a smile on his face, until Mac said, "If I'm not out of line, I would like you to do it Sir. You have been such a positive influence in my life and it is very hard to leave JAG."

AJ tossed a look at Trevor to see what his reaction to this was only to find him smiling and nodding. He understood this request his new wife had made, "Well then it would be my pleasure Mac," AJ stated and kissed his former Chief of Staff on both cheeks.

She whispered to him, "Thank you Sir," when he was close enough that only he could hear.

He whispered back, "It was my pleasure, Sarah."

When Mac started to step back after the kisses and taking the new insignias that were in the box AJ handed her, he stopped her. "Would you like to know the position you will have to go along with your new rank?"

Grinning sheepishly Mac nodded and said, "I guess that might be a good idea."

"Everyone you are looking at Major General Sarah Benet, the newest JAG of the Pacific."

There were many gasps from the guests gathered around but none was louder than the one from Mac herself.

"Really?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, really," AJ assured her.

She turned to Trevor who was still at her side and questioned, "Did you know about this?"

"Yeah," he told her.

Then everyone began to come forward to congratulate Mac.

Dinner was a big hit and then it was time to cut the cakes. Once again it was a chance for the photographer to get some traditional shots of the reception.

_**To be continued…..**_


	33. Chapter 33

_Chapter 33_

Vince and Collette both smashed the cake into each other's faces and following their lead, so did Trevor and Mac. Because of AJ's rank and position Akaliiani had decided not to smash cake into his face, however when the time came and AJ's hand was approaching her face, she spotted an evil gleam in his eyes. She knew what was coming. So she reached up and decorated Admiral Chegwidden's face from cheek to cheek with chocolate cake.

Akaliiani and AJ had talked about sharing their news at the reception, but Akaliiani explained to him that because Vince and Collette were going to share their news as the reason they had moved their date up it might be stealing their thunder. Instead they decided to tell their families one at a time.

The three couples all had their first dance together as the band struck up and before long everyone was dancing. Everyone seemed to want a chance to dance with either the brides or grooms and this continued for quite some time. Finally it was time for the band to pack it up and guests began to head home.

All the couples had company at their homes so Gerald who was father to one half of each couple presented each pairing a key card to one of the hot tub suites at the Willard hotel for the night.

Because Francesca was going back to Italy the next day she was informed that she was going to become a big sister before AJ and Akaliiani left for the Willard. They would tell Trevor and Mac when they reached Hawaii and Gerald and Adel would be told when they got to Texas. The rest would be told as opportunity came up.

The next day everyone was leaving for home. Because AJ and Akaliiani were heading to Hawaii on their honeymoon they would share the same flight as Trevor and Mac. They were going to spend a week and a half of their two week honeymoon in there then they were going to fly to Texas and spend a few days with Gerald and Adel.

Trevor and Mac were happy to hear their news and Mac reminded Akaliiani about the phone conversation about Aunt-hood and both of them laughed, then they had to explain it to the guys.

Mac had a week off before she was to assume her new duties as JAG of the Pacific, unfortunately Trevor had to work. He hadn't been able to take the time off for a honeymoon right then. So Mac was doing some sightseeing with AJ and Akaliiani, but mostly she was on the hunt for a slightly bigger apartment for the two of them to share.

They did spend time with the vacationing newlyweds but since both pairs were so newly married they all wanted time alone as well.

Trevor would come home every evening telling Mac how sorry he was that he couldn't have taken the time off for a true honeymoon. He promised that they would find time later to get away together. She had put up with it for the first couple of days but and then let him have it!

"Trevor! We will always have times in our careers that they will come before our personal lives. I understand that you have to work so stop apologizing!" And he did!

Mac entered her new office on her first day of work as early as she always did in Virginia. She loved being the first one in the office for that wonderfully quiet way to start the day. But when she walked in that morning she smelled coffee brewing. She wasn't the first one there! Following her nose she could tell it was very strong coffee but it led her to the break room. What she saw when she got there warmed her heart.

_**To be continued…..**_


	34. Chapter 34

_Chapter 34_

Admiral AJ Chegwidden stood there in civvies with a visitor's badge clipped to his shirt with a pot of coffee in his hand.

"Coffee General?" he asked her with a grin.

Even though she was dressed in her new uniform with her new insignias she couldn't help but give him an impulsive hug, of course she was careful not to spill the coffee pot he was holding. "I would love some!" she told him after stepping back.

"I hope you don't mind that I stopped by on your first day Mac?" as he poured her a cup.

After her first sip and a sigh she said, "Nothing could have been better!"

He didn't stay much longer thinking that if the big JAG had to be there on her first day it might undermine he authority.

Three days later AJ and Akaliiani were on their way to Texas.

Telling Gerald and Adel about the baby was a very emotional reveal. Gerald got teary eyed when he thought of his baby girl having a baby. Then came the realization that in less than a year each of his children would be parents.

Akaliiani was amazed to see how well her father had adapted to ranch life. His promise of becoming a 'cowboy' seemed to have come true, he was even wearing boots!

The visit had been going just great until Akaliiani had wanted to go riding with the other three. Gerald began to protest almost immediately. There was no way his baby was going riding while carrying a baby! Akaliiani insisted that it was perfectly safe for pregnant women to ride well into their pregnancy. She turned to AJ for support, but his answer was, "I only want you and the baby to be safe."

It wasn't until she called it up on the internet that it was safe until sometime in the seventh month that AJ came on board at this proof. He told her he was okay with her going riding as long as she promised nothing too strenuous. Akaliiani quickly made that promise and then Adel asked her how much riding experience she had.

Gerald quickly jumped in to say that the answer was 'none' just like him and that he had the only beginner horse in the stables.

"Even if that were true Gerry, you are riding so well these days that we could put you on a different horse," Adel told her husband.

"However, it isn't true, the summer camps Pops sent me to every summer offered riding lessons and I loved it. I might be a little bit rusty but I was pretty good as a kid," Akaliiani told her.

"Is Cinnamon still around?" AJ asked his sister.

"Yes she is and she would be a good choice for Akaliiani. Shall we head to the stables then?" asked Adel.

Nodding slowly Gerald walked with the group out to the golf carts. "I thought we were going to ride horses?!" Akaliiani asked in a teasing voice.

"Two years ago the stables burned down, they were much closer to the house than they are now. We saved all the horses but when we went to rebuild we were told that for insurance purposes we had to build farther from the house. We were really glad that we had the golf carts for the other out buildings" Adel explained.

AJ and Akaliiani took one cart while Gerald and Adel took the other and before long they were at the stables. Three horses were saddled and tied to the fence by their reigns. Clem came out of the building as they pulled up. AJ greeted him and thanked him for saddling his horse for him.

"I was just waiting to find out who you wanted for your lovely wife?" Clem responded.

"Cinnamon," AJ told him.

"Good choice. I'll get her ready," Clem answered and headed into the building.

While they were waiting AJ introduced Akaliiani to the other horses. Gerald's Neptune, Adel's Egypt, and the one that he always rode when he was home for a visit. It was a pure white stallion named Galaxy. By the time she was done meeting the horses Clem was back with a lovely reddish brown colored horse.

_**To be continued…..**_


	35. Chapter 35

_Chapter 35_

"Oh AJ! She's beautiful! I can see where she got her name from." Akaliiani walked up to the horse and stroked down her forehead to her inquisitive nose. She laughed when Cinnamon sniffed her hand.

AJ came up next to her and gave Akaliiani a piece of apple, "She's looking for this."

Akaliiani giggled when Cinnamon eagerly gobbled it out of her hand.

"Ready to ride?" AJ asked.

"Oh yes!" she told him giving Cinnamon another pat.

All four mounted up and they took off over an open field.

"We should go down by the pond," Gerald suggested. It had become one of his favorite places on the ranch.

"That was the plan," Adel told him with a smile.

They rode for a while before coming upon the pond where AJ suggested that they take a break. He could see that Akaliiani was looking a little peaked. She slid off into his arms when they stopped and her legs seemed a little wobbly so he held her until she steadied.

"Thank you AJ," she said in a low tone so only he could hear.

"It is my job to take care of you and our little peanut," he replied.

"Peanut?!" she giggled.

"Well until we know if it's a boy or a girl it would be really cumbersome to keep saying 'he or she' every time we referred to the baby so I just thought it was a cute idea, but if you don't like we could come up with something else."

"No! I like it! Our little peanut!" she said rubbing her tummy.

Seeing her do that Gerald became concerned and hurried over to her. "Are you alright Liiani?! And the baby? This ride didn't hurt the baby did it?"

"Pops, I'm fine and so is the peanut."

"Peanut?!"

She smiled, "That is the name AJ gave the baby."

"Oh," he said with an odd look on his face, not sure he liked the reference.

"I think that it's cute," Adel commented. "Now why don't we sit for a little while along the water?"

They rested for a time and then decided to head back to the ranch where they were sure Brenda would have a wonderful lunch waiting for them. When they got to the horses AJ handed Cinnamon's reigns to Adel and mounted his own horse. Akaliiani gave him a strange look as she wondered what was going on.

"I want you to ride with me Darlin'," he took his foot out of the stirrup and offered her his hand. "Come up here with me," he told her.

Taking his hand she stepped up and a moment later found herself sitting across his lap. With his arms around her she felt safe and secure. Akaliiani leaned her head on his shoulder with a sigh, and they headed back to the ranch.

Clem came out of the stables when they rode in and he was the one that steadied Akaliiani when AJ slid her tenderly to the ground. AJ quickly dismounted and put his arm around Akaliiani's shoulders to guide her to the golf cart for the short ride to the house.

Brenda greeted them and insisted that they all wash their hands before she would serve them the mid day meal. Stuffed pork chops and homemade baked applesauce was for lunch and it tasted twice as good as it smelled. For desert she served them lemon meringue pie. It was tart and sweet at the same time and just melted on the tongue.

After their meal Akaliiani told AJ that she wanted to lay down for a while. He agreed with her that it was a good idea.

Gerald and Adel were worried about Akaliiani and questioned AJ about her when he came back from tucking her in. He assured them she would be fine after a short rest.

Akaliiani slept until dinner time and unfortunately woke to the smell of bacon wrapped filets. She dashed to the bathroom and emptied her tummy of anything that was left from lunch.

By the time she came out of the bathroom all of the bacon was gone. Some had quickly been eaten and the rest had been packed away. Apologizing to Brenda for her reaction to her cooking and receiving one in return for Brenda not knowing the bacon would set off her morning sickness. Both agreed to forgive the other.

_**To be continued…..**_


	36. Chapter 36

_Chapter 36_

Akaliiani was able to eat a healthy dinner after her tummy had been emptied. For the evening they chose a movie to watch with large bowls of popcorn to be passed around.

They stayed at the ranch two more days and rode both of them, but much shorter distances for Akaliiani.

Then came the day of their flight home. The parting was on the sad side because the four of them didn't know when they would see each other again. However, one interesting plan had come from Gerald, he suggested that they take over his first floor apartment because as Liiani's pregnancy progressed it would be easier if she didn't have to do the stairs. Liiani said she would think about it as she took the keys her father still had for his apartment.

In Little Creek Virginia Vince and Collette had decided not to go away on a honeymoon, even though both had taken a week off of work. What they were going to do with their time off was to turn their guest room into a nursery.

Collette was an interior designer by trade, owning her own business, so Vince had decided to let her make most of the choices for the room.

She chose a lemon yellow for the walls with all white furniture. They had decided they didn't want to know the sex of the baby until it was born so were keeping the room gender neutral.

At the store Collette showed Vince three different banners, one of which they would use as a boarder for the room. The first was and ABC theme, the second pattern was of baby jungle animals, and the third was rainbows and clouds. She was leaving the choice to him.

"I really like the rainbows and clouds. Is that okay with you?" Vince asked.

"Yes darling. I love all three, that is why I wanted you to pick which you liked best. This will be the boarder around the room and we can get sheets for the crib that will match it as well as a bumper pad that goes around the crib."

"Now all we have to do is wait for the baby to arrive!" Vince smiled.

Between Collette and Akaliiani they had discussed due dates and if everything went as planned, barring the babies surprising them, Collette would be a mother about two weeks before her sister-in-law, Liiani.

At her first OBGYN appointment Liiani discovered that she might have an advantage over Collette after all!

"Oh AJ twins! Isn't that wonderful?!" Liiani gasped.

AJ looked a bit dazed as they stared at the ultra sound screen. Even though he was a twin he hadn't even thought about Akaliiani having twins.

"AJ aren't you happy about this?" she asked in a worried voice.

Snapping out of his daze he grinned, "Akaliiani when you told me we were having a baby I was overjoyed, I have no words for how it feels to know we are having two!"

She leaned over and kissed him as a reward for the perfect answer.

What the expectant mothers didn't know was that as Mac was searching for their new apartment she looked at one that was right next door to an orphanage. As she walked up to the apartment building she saw four little boys standing at the fence staring at her. Instead of smiles like you would expect young children she was faced by four of the most solemn faces she had ever seen. The boys were about five or six years of age and as she looked closer she could see that they were identical! Identical quadruplets!

She went home to tell Trevor about them and was in tears over how sad they had been. Mac couldn't help by cry as she talked about them. The two of them talked almost nonstop about the quads for a couple of weeks. They made a trip to the orphanage to meet the boys and both of them fell in love with the children. Trevor was worried that with Mac having a brand new job with so much responsibility and adopting four children?! One child would be a lot for a newlywed couple, but four at once?!

_**To be continued…..**_


	37. Chapter 37

_Chapter 37_

One month after they were married, Trevor and Mac brought home four little boys to their brand new three bedroom house. The orphanage had suggested that at least at first they shouldn't separate the boys. So they would all share one room furnished with two sets of bunk beds.

Mac and Trevor were now the proud parents of four little boys, whose names were Jacco, Jahan, Jamar, and Javen. They sent out an announcement to all the family with a picture of all six of them in front of the new house. In the announcement to Liiani Mac had mentioned the Aunt-hood comment they had made.

They were so glad the boys had turned out to be six years old and in school so they wouldn't be bringing them home and then dropping them in day care all day. The school that they went to had a great after school program for working parents. Mac and Trevor had made a promise that one of them would always be off work in time to pick up the boys.

"Can you believe Trevor and Mac adopted four children?" Gerald asked with a grin as he stared at the announcement they had gotten in the mail.

"And before long we will have three more with Nicci, Collette and Liiani all expecting," Adel answered him. They didn't know that Liiani was expecting twins.

It took a while for the boys to realize that they had a new and permanent home. It was over two weeks before Mac was able to get a smile out of one of the boys. But it wasn't long after that the rest of the boys began to smile too. Before long laughter was ringing out in the Benet home.

Everyone wanted to meet the boys, but knew they needed to feel comfortable with their new parents first so AJ and Akaliiani asked to host everyone for Thanksgiving and Gerald and Adel jumped in to say they wanted everyone to come to Texas for Christmas.

One month later another announcement went out. Nicci had given birth to an eight pound six ounce baby boy just three days after his sister Joyce had turned three years old. James Gerald Benet had entered the family.

AJ and Akaliiani had decided to keep their guest room as it was, but convert AJ's den into the nursery. He admitted the he used it so rarely it was easy to give it up for the babies.

Like Vince and Collette, AJ and Akaliiani had decided to wait until the babies were born to find out their sexes. However, at the first ultrasound one of the babies chose to make it known that he was a he. AJ had told her how often how much Bud and Harriett meant in his life and she had no trouble agreeing that one of their peanuts would be named Robert. The other peanut was shyer so would remain a mystery, at least for now.

Halloween pictures were shared of all the kids in their costumes. Everyone was happy that Thanksgiving was only a month away so the entire family could be together.

Collette was five months along at Thanksgiving and Akaliiani four and a half months. Because she was carrying twins, her baby bump was quite pronounced.

The family descended on Virginia enmass and they got to meet the five new additions. Collette kept looking at Liiani's belly. Finally she managed to get next to her sister-in-law. She was two weeks farther along, but was not as large as Liiani.

Liiani just laughed and told her, "AJ is a big guy, that's why this baby is so large."

Collette arched her eyebrow and glanced across the room to where AJ, Vince, and Trevor were all clustered together talking about the upcoming football game. However, what her point was that all three of them were similar in size. All Liiani could do was shrug without admitting the truth she and AJ were still trying to keep as a surprise.

Mac and Trevor's boys were a big hit as well as Nicci and David's new son who was passed around so everyone could get a good cuddle.

The weekend was wonderful, everyone had a fantastic time. As Sunday rolled around they all began to say their good-byes. Some tears were involved and everyone promised to be in Texas in a month for Christmas on the ranch.

_**To be continued…..**_


	38. Chapter 38

_Chapter 38_

A month later everyone met again, but this time in Texas. The gifts around the tree were stacked almost half way up the tree. All of the children protested that Gerald and Adel had gone way over board in the gifts for their grandchildren. Gerald and Adel ignored them.

When Liiani got a moment alone with AJ she asked him, "What would you think of me becoming a stay at home mom when the babies arrive?"

AJ contemplated his answer and then said, "Akaliiani if that is what you want, I will fully support you in whatever you decide."

"I just don't think I could go back to work and leave them. I really want to be with them all the time."

"Then that is what you should do," he said.

Valentine's Day had just come and gone. Liiani was seven months along and beginning to waddle a bit when she walked. AJ knew better than to tell her about this, however he couldn't help but smile each time he saw it happen. She had promised herself she would work as long as she could, however she was so tired by the time she finished work for the day that she knew it was time to quit.

On her last day of work Vince called from Little Creek. Collette was in the hospital and they were very afraid she might lose the baby. She could hear that he was trying his best to keep tears at bay at the same time he was apologizing to her for putting this on her plate when she was pregnant too. But she and AJ were the closest and he really needed family there.

Liiani told her boss what was going on and he was very understanding as to why she had to leave. Calling AJ she explained what Vince had said as she headed to her car. She told him she was on her way to pick him up.

Quickly calling Harm, who had become his Chief of Staff, into his office AJ explained that Harm would be in charge until he returned. When Liiani arrived, AJ insisted that she let him drive, because she could barely keep her tears at bay. Liiani simply nodded and moved to the passenger seat.

"Do you have any idea what is wrong?" AJ questioned.

"No, all he would say was that she was in the hospital and could lose the baby. When I tried to question him further, he said he needed to call the rest of the family."

"Okay, we'll be there before long and we can find out."

AJ pushed when he could, getting the three hour drive down to two and a quarter. When they arrived he put his arm around her waist to support her as they hurried inside.

They found Vince in the waiting room slumped in a chair with his head in his hands. Hurrying over to him Liiani put her hand on his arm and said, "We're here Vince, where is Collette? Why are you out here?!"

He lifted his head to look at her and she could have sworn that he had aged ten years since they had seen him at Christmas. "They took her into delivery," he stated hoarsely.

"Oh Vince, what happened?"

"I don't know. They said she was in a lot of pain at work and then collapsed. They called me to say she had been rushed here. They only let me see her for a moment before they took her away."

"What did the doctor say, Vince?" AJ asked him gently.

"That Collette had a prolapsed uterus and we could lose the baby, and that she was in danger too. I could lose them both!"

Liiani put her around her brother then she and AJ took seats on either side of him. After an hour of sitting there in the waiting room a nurse entered and called out, "Mr. Benet." She called twice more before AJ and Liiani helped Vince to his feet and the three of them approached the nurse.

"He's used to be called Captain Benet," AJ told her.

Nodding the nurse said quietly, "I just came out to tell you that your daughter was just born. She is very small and her lungs are underdeveloped. She is being taken to our neonatal NIC U."

"And Collette?! What about my wife?!"

_**To be continued…..**_


	39. Chapter 39

_Chapter 39_

The nurse looked sad, "It's still touch and go with Mrs. Benet. When the baby was born Mrs. Benet's uterus was delivered at the same time. The doctor is working very hard to keep her with us." She turned and was about to leave when AJ put a hand on her arm and said, "If she needs blood, I'm a universal donor."

"So am I!" Liiani stated eagerly.

The nurse looked at her belly and shook her head 'no' then turned to AJ and said in a low tone, "As fast as she's hemorrhaging, you couldn't donate enough," then she left the three of them standing there stunned.

"We have a daughter," Vince stated almost in a daze. "The ultra sound showed a boy both times, we don't have any girls names picked out."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something sweet. We could go and see her," Liiani told him.

"What about Collette?! It sounded like we could still lose her! I can't lose her! How can I raise a baby along…let alone a girl?!" Vince stood there shaking.

"We need to keep good thoughts, Vince," Liiani told him, giving him a hug.

Vince tried to smile at her, but it didn't quite happen. Taking his hand, she suggested, "Let's go see your daughter."

The three of them headed to the NIC U. When they got there a nurse showed them to a room where they were told to put on gowns and masks before they could be taken in to see the baby.

Liiani couldn't help but gasp, "Oh!" then tear up as she protectively put her hand over her own child growing within when she saw Vince and Collette's baby. AJ quickly put his arm around her shoulders.

The nurse came over to them as they stood next to the incubator. *Benet?" she questioned.

"Yes," Vince confirmed.

"Let me tell you about your daughter," she paused, then asked, "Does she have a name yet?"

"No," Vince shook his head sadly.

"Well we will just call her Baby Benet for now then. She's three pounds and two ounces, she is sixteen inches long. Her lungs are underdeveloped, that is why she in on the ventilator. We also have her under a heat lamp to keep her warm."

"All those tubes and wires," Vince's voice shook.

"Those are to help her, Vince," Liiani said, putting her arm around her brother.

"She's SO small."

"But she's here," AJ stated.

Vince nodded, "I need to find out Collette is," he said as he turned away from the incubator, tearing off the gown and mask he was wearing.

With one more look at the baby Liiani turned to follow her brother. AJ was right behind her,

Vince went up to the nurses' station and asked for an update on his wife. The nurse on duty told him she would get the doctor to talk to him. All of them knew this was not good, that the nurse would not tell him what the situation was.

In the doctor's office Vince and Liiani took the two chairs in front of his desk and AJ stood behind his wife with his hands on her shoulders. They had known the news was not good when the nurse called in the doctor, but when he took them to his office for the talk rather than just telling them where they met, they knew it was bad.

"Captain," the doctor said, "Mrs. Benet lost a lot of blood when her uterus prolapsed. I'm very sorry but that means she will not be able to have anymore children…"

Impatient, Vince interrupted, "But how IS my wife?!"

"Captain Benet, your wife…"

"Collette! Her name is Collette!" Vince snapped.

The doctor nodded, "Collette, is in a coma. We are giving her transfusions to replace all the blood she lost during the delivery, but all we can do right now is wait."

"Wait for what?! To see if she wakes up?! To see if she dies?!"

Sadly the doctor answered, "Yes, to both of those things. She is in intensive care and we are very hopeful that if she makes it through the next twenty four hours, then her chances of survival will greatly increase. Then we need to focus on her waking up."

Vince lowered his head into his hands for a moment as Liiani was about to reach over and put her arm around him. Looking up again Vince questioned, "And what about my daughter?! What are her chances?"

_**To be continued…..**_


	40. Chapter 40

_Chapter 40_

The doctor hesitated.

"Give it to me straight, Doc!" insisted Vince.

"Your daughter is under five pounds, her lungs are very underdeveloped, right now she is stable. If that continues and she begins to gain weight, her chances are good. We just need to find out if she is a fighter."

"If she's anything like her father, then she is!" Liiani told him fervently.

"Let's hope so," the doctor responded.

"May I see my wife now?" Vince requested.

"Yes, I'll call the nurse and have her take you to her. Only one of you will be able to go in at a time," the doctor told them.

Once out in the hall AJ asked Vince, "Have you called the rest of the family yet, Vince?"

"Everyone but dad. I didn't want to worry him until I knew more, at his age and all," he answered. "It might be a good idea to update everyone else. Can you call them for me?"

"Of course we will," Liiani and AJ answered in unison.

As Vince walked off after the nurse, Akaliiani said, "Why don't you call Mac and Trevor, and Adel and Pops, since you know Mac and Adel…" she trailed off as her throat closed up.

"Akaliiani, I can call all of your brothers to update them but you should call your father, he hasn't heard anything yet. You should be the one to tell him."

She nodded and whispered, "Oh AJ how could this have happened?!" Putting her hand on her stomach she continued, "It could have been us!"

Wrapping his arms around her, AJ held her close, "Yes it could have Darlin', but we really can't think that way now, we need to call the family and then stay strong for Vince. He is going to need every bit of support we can give him in the coming days."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "You're right. I shouldn't have been so selfish!"

"Sweetheart! You don't have a selfish bone in your body! It's only natural to think about us when you are pregnant too, but Vince is going to need us to be strong for him. If he loses one or the other…"

"Oh god! Please let's not even think that way!" she begged.

"Okay Akaliiani. Let's focus on helping Vince."

"Yes, and we need to make our phone calls now. This is going to kill Pops!"

They walked outside to where there was a seating area they could use their cell phones. AJ got the reaction he expected with each of his calls. Every one of her brothers offered to drop everything and to show up for Vince and Collette. He told them not to come right then. Akaliiani and he were on site and would keep them in the loop, but for now all they could do was pray.

Meanwhile, a few feet away, Liiani was placing a call to her father and Adel. "Dad, can you get Adel on the other line or put the call on speaker so I can talk to you both at the same time?"

"Yes," he told her, then began grilling her, "Are you okay? Is it the baby?! What is…"

"Pops! Please! Yes I have news, but it isn't about me. I need you to listen," she interrupted.

"Okay, baby girl," Gerald told her as he took his wife's hand and braced for the worst.

"Collette had her baby a few hours ago…"

"But that's great news! You made it sound like it was bad news! Do we have a new grandson or granddaughter?," he paused for a moment before continuing, "But wait! Their baby wasn't due for two months…"

"POPS!"

"Gerry you need to let her talk," Adel told him.

"I'm sorry, go ahead Liiani."

"Collette was in a lot of pain and collapsed at her work today. They rushed her to the hospital. She had a baby girl that is only three pounds Pops. They have her in the neo natal NIC U and are watching her closely because her lungs are underdeveloped. The doctor has said she is stable for now…" Liiani paused for breath.

She heard Adel gently ask, "What about Collette, my dear?"

"She…" Liiani gulped, "She had a prolapsed uterus and was hemorrhaging badly. Right now she is in ICU in a coma. We could still lose one or both of them."

_**To be continued…..**_


	41. Chapter 41

_Chapter 41_

"How is Vince?" her father asked.

"He's a mess Pops," Liiani sighed.

"And you, baby girl?"

"I'm fine."

"We are on our way, Liiani," Adel said.

"Oh, you guys don't need to come all this way. AJ and I will keep you guys updated."

"No baby girl, we need to be there for all of you," her father insisted.

"Thanks Pops. Let us know when you get here."

"We are on our way," both Gerald and Adel said at the same time and then hung up.

When Liiani was off the phone she found AJ by her side, "How did your calls go?" she asked.

"Everyone wanted to come, but I told them to wait and we would keep them in the loop. How did your dad handle the news?"

"He and your sister are on their way. They want to be here for Vince and for us," she told him.

"Okay," he said. "What now?"

"I want to go back to the nursery."

AJ nodded and with his arm around her they went back into the building. They put the gowns and masks on again and stood next to the tiny baby girl in the incubator. The nurse came up to them and said, "You can touch her if you'd like." She showed Liiani how to reach into the incubator and stroke the baby's legs. Liiani eagerly reached in to do the same. "Welcome to the family little one," she said.

Liiani had a hard time leaving the baby's side, but AJ was concerned about her welfare. He insisted that she take a break and have dinner, then they would check on Vince and Collette. After that they could come back to the baby. Liiani reluctantly agreed, knowing that AJ was only worried about her and the twins she was carrying. She also suggested that they bring something back some food for Vince.

The short time away from the hospital probably was good for her, but all Liiani could think about was getting back to Vince's family. They had brought Vince a turkey club sandwich, even though he claimed he wasn't hungry. Liiani explained how he needed to keep up his strength so he could help his wife and daughter. Finally he managed to take a few bites.

Collette's condition was talked about, but sadly there was no change. Liiani told her brother that Gerald and Adel were on their way to town. Vince had a hard time keeping the emotion out of his voice when he heard that.

Liiani offered to switch places with Vince for a time so he could go and visit the baby. She would sit with Collette while he did that. She was stunned when he told her he had no desire to do that. He wanted to go back into ICU to be at Collette's side.

"Vince, are you saying that you don't want to see your daughter!?" Liiani gasped.

"No," he said clearly.

"But why? She is your baby! She doesn't even have a name! Vince why don't you go and see her and give her a name?"

"If it means so much to you, then you name her! After what she did to Collette, I don't want anything to do with her!"

"Vince, you can't mean that!"

"I do," Vince stated and walked away.

Liiani turned back to AJ with tears on her cheeks, "How can he feel that way about his own child?!"

AJ put his arm around her and said, "I'm not sure he's thinking clearly right now, Akaliiani. We need to give him some space to deal with his own way."

"I just don't know how he could treat his child this way AJ?!"

Kissing her forehead he wiped away the tear that was sliding down her cheek, "Everyone deals with tragedy in their own way. All we can do is be there for Vince and support him through this."

Nodding, she took his hand as they headed towards the nursery, "Should we choose a name for her?"

"Unless the hospital is insisting they need a name then I think we should wait to see if Vince will come around."

"Okay," she agreed.

Sitting in a chair next to the incubator, Liiani was once again allowed to touch her tiny young niece. She offered AJ the chance to switch places with her so he could touch her too, but he told her that she should stay there.

_**To be continued…..**_


	42. Chapter 42

_Chapter 42_

Several hours later Liiani looked up at AJ's touch on her shoulder. He motioned to the glass window of the nursery. Her father and Adel were standing there. She and AJ took off their gowns and masks and went out to talk to them.

"Oh Pops!" she exclaimed as Gerald enfolded her in his arms.

"Are you alright, baby girl?"

"Yes, Pops. AJ is taking care of me."

"Okay then, how are my newest granddaughter and Collette?"

"The baby is stable and Collette is still in a coma."

AJ could see his sister's eyes being drawn again and again to the tiny baby in the nursery, so suggested, "Akaliiani why don't you take Adel to in to see the baby and I'll take Gerald over to see Vince and Collette?"

Everyone agreed and they parted.

Adel was fascinated by the tiny baby girl and couldn't help but touch her when Liiani showed her how. In the ICU they found Vince sitting beside Collette's bed with his head on their joined hands, sound asleep.

Gerald gently put his hand on his son's shoulder and softly said his name. Vince started awake and teared up when he saw his father. The two of them embraced and they left Collette's room so they could talk out in the hall.

"How is she, son?" Gerald asked.

"Not good, dad. Her blood pressure keeps going down, they are giving her fluids and medication for it, but they are having a hard time keeping it under control."

"Adel and I are here now and with your sister and AJ we will do anything we can to help you. Liiani tells me my new granddaughter doesn't have a name yet. We need to change that Vince."

"I told her to go ahead and name the baby if she was so worried about it. I have enough on my plate with Collette!"

"Vincent Jerome Benet! That is your daughter and you have family here now to help with Collette so let's go and see your baby. I'm sure AJ will stay here with Collette while we do."

AJ nodded his agreement even as Vince was starting to protest. His father was having none of it however, he took Vince by the arm and headed towards the nursery.

Liiani teared up when she saw Gerald and Vince putting on gowns and masks. They came into the room and she stepped back from the incubator. "Introduce me to my granddaughter," Gerald told his son.

"All we had picked out were boys names," he told his father.

"Well what did you have?" Gerald asked.

"Harlan, for Collette's father. 

"What about Harley then?" asked Liiani.

Nodding, Vince said, "She's so tiny," he was unable to take his eyes away from her.

"You can touch her if you want," Adel suggested.

Vince gulped, "Show me." A few seconds later he touched his daughter for the first time.

The rest of the family melted away leaving him alone with his daughter. Gerald offered to take Adel to the ICU to visit Collette.

Over the next several days Collette continued to struggle. Her blood pressure kept fluctuating and her care team worked hard to keep her alive. Meanwhile, in the NIC U Harley Joy Benet began to improve. Her weight started to go up and everyone was encouraged by this.

Because Vince would not leave the hospital Liiani and AJ were staying at his apartment along with Gerald and Adel. The younger couple took over the master bedroom because of the king sized bed. Gerald and Adel were using the guest room that had a queen sized bed.

The only one of the four that was still working was AJ and he checked in with the office every few days. Adel did keep up with the ranch, but she trusted Clem and Brenda to take care of things while she was away.

AJ kept Vince's duty station informed on what was going on with his wife and child. At AJ's recommendation he was put on extended leave.

Two weeks later Collette was at last stable enough to be moved out of the ICU and into a regular room even though she was still in a coma. Baby Harley kept gaining weight and improving by the day.

_**To be continued…..**_


	43. Chapter 43

_Chapter 43_

Because things were going well, AJ decided to return to work while Liiani remained with her brother in Little Creek. Still wanting to keep a protective eye on his pregnant wife he decided to work Monday through Thursday so he could have a three day weekends in Little Creek.

Liiani was now at the same place in her pregnancy that Collette was when Harley was born. This had not escaped Liiani's notice, she felt guilty for being glad that she and her baby were doing so well.

She was pleasantly surprised when she got to the NIC U and was told that baby Harley was doing so well that she could take her out of the incubator for a short time and could actually hold her.

While Vince was taking his turn holding his daughter, Liiani was sitting at Collette's bedside. It was six weeks to her due date and she was carrying on a one sided conversation when she felt a twinge. Over the next ten minutes she had three more of the same kind of twinges.

The Benet family had become friendly with the nursing staffs that were caring for both Collette and Harley, so Liiani stepped out of her sister-in-laws room to stop at the nurses' station. Explaining what was going on, the quickly checked her out and told her she was having Braxton Hicks contractions. It was perfectly normal, and many women had them at this stage of their pregnancies. Liiani sighed and went back to sit with Collette.

"I don't meant to complain, especially with your situation, but I hate having this happen with AJ not here," she told Collette.

That evening back at Vince's apartment she called her husband to tell him about the contractions. He wanted to come and be with her right away even though it was only Tuesday. "No, don't come," she insisted, "I just really needed to hear your voice. There isn't anything you can do about it, and if something really happened I can call you and you would only be a few hours away."

"Are you sure?" AJ asked.

"Yes, it was just frustrating to have contractions without really being in labor."

"I'll be there in two days, Darlin', you hang in there."

Over the next few days she had four more bouts of the Braxton Hicks contractions. AJ arrived on Thursday right in the middle of one of the incidents. When she had another on Saturday Gerald took AJ aside to talk to him the about the situation. "I think all the stress of what is going on here is getting to her. She needs to be home with you in McLean. Your sister and I are here, we will continue to take care of Vince, Collette, and the baby. Take her home AJ, take her home," Gerald advised.

"You're right, but I'm not sure she will want to leave," said AJ. He knew his wife and how deeply her love of family ran. She would put herself in peril to help them out if she felt they needed her.

When they approached Liiani with this idea, AJ said, "Akaliiani your father is right. You need to be at home."

"I can't leave them AJ! Vince needs the support."

"Your dad and Adel will still be here, but you have to take care of yourself. Remember it's not just you. There are the twins to consider."

Gerald had been within earshot during AJ and Liiani's conversation so heard this, "You are having twins?!" he demanded.

"I guess I let the cat out of the bag there," AJ shook his head.

"It's okay," Liiani told him with a tender smile, "I'm just afraid to leave while Harley and Collette are still not out of the woods."

"I get it, but my job is to worry about you and I agree with your father that you should be at home getting ready for the birth."

With tears in her eyes she agreed, "And if something happened we can be back here in just a few hours."

Vince understood their need to go and agreed totally that Liiani should be caring for herself. He felt guilty for keeping her away from her home for so long.

_**To be continued…..**_


	44. Chapter 44

_Chapter 44_

On the ride home Akaliiani told AJ that she's come up with a couple of name combinations that she wanted to run by him. He eagerly told her to go ahead. "Well, I thought that if both were boys then Robert and Richard and they would be called Robby and Ricky. Or if we had one of each what about Robert and Rebecca and we could call them Bobby and Becky? What do you think?" she asked.

"If I wasn't driving right now I would kiss you senseless! Those are perfect!" AJ exclaimed.

"You're really sure?"

"I am. Those are wonderful names, I can't wait to see what set we have!"

"Do you have a preference to which set you'd like?" she wanted to know.

"Not at all. As long as they and you are all healthy I will be happy with either."

She smiled at him and said, "Well, I'm hoping for one of each."

"Then I'll hope for that too."

During the next week they got daily updates from Gerald and Adel, unfortunately the news didn't change. The baby was slowly gaining weight but Collette was still in a coma.

A month after her birth Harley weighed in at four pounds! But her mother had not seen her yet.

As frustrating as it was Liiani kept having the Braxton Hicks contraction every few days. It got to the point that every time it happened all she wanted to do was to cry. AJ tried to console her the best he could but felt helpless that he couldn't do much more than to tell her it wouldn't be much longer.

AJ left for work as usual and just as Liiani was about to make lunch for herself when they started in again. Liiani had had it! She had just taken a plate out of the cupboard and in her upset she through it against the wall! It made such a satisfying crash that she pulled out another and threw that too. Several more plates later with tears flowing down her cheeks, she realized that this time might be different when her water broke.

She stared at the puddle a moment then grabbed the phone to call AJ. "You should meet me at Bethesda as soon as possible."

"Akaliiani am coming to get you! You shouldn't be driving if you're really in labor."

"I will call a cab as soon as I hang up, so just meet me there."

"Oh, okay, I will soon Darlin'," he told her and ended the call. "Coates!" She came running into the office at the urgent ton in his voice. AJ threw some papers into his briefcase and he headed towards the door. "Tell Rabb he's in charge until I get back. Akaliiani is in labor."

AJ was shown into a room where Akaliiani was in the middle of a contraction, he hurried to her side and put his arm around her just as the contraction ended.

"Oh AJ, I'm SO sorry!" she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"What do you have to be sorry about Darlin'? We knew that with all the false alarms you've been having that this would be soon."

"No, no, I wasn't sorry about being in labor! I'm sorry about breaking a plate when the contractions started."

"Darlin', that is fine, don't worry about it. Accidents happen and I will clean it up when I get home."

"It wasn't an accident…I thought it was the Braxton Hicks starting again. I was so upset that I threw the the plate I was holding against the wall."

"It's okay my love, I understand. It's only a plate, nothing to stress about," he insisted.

"You don't get it! The crash was so satisfying that I threw another…and then another, I'm sorry I did it but at the time…"

AJ chuckled, "It's alright Akaliiani. The plates don't matter. They can be replaced, you are the only thing that matters to me," he told her.

"So you forgi…" she started to ask before another contraction started. She grabbed him a hand and squeezed for all she was worth.

He bore it well so she drew up her knees and tried not to scream. They went through a couple more contractions before the nurse came in to check on how far she was dilated. The nurse said she was at eight centimeters and progressing nicely.

_**To be continued…..**_


	45. Chapter 45

_Chapter 45_

An hour later she was finally dilated to ten centimeters and her doctor had arrived. It was time to start pushing. The problem was Liiani was so tired that she couldn't push.

AJ encouraged her by helping her to sit up and telling her how proud of her he was. She snorted as the contraction ended, "Pride doesn't help me squeeze these babies out!"

"No, my love, I expect it doesn't but I know you can do this and before long we will know if we have two boys or one of each."

She suffered through another contraction before saying, "Or two girls. Remember Vince and Collette thought they were having a boy before Haley was born."

"True, but then we are in trouble because we don't have two girls names picked out."

"Okay Liiani on the next push we should have the head of the first baby delivered, so I am going to need a really hard push," her doctor told her.

Liiani looked up at AJ with pleading eyes. AJ moved behind her to help her sit up. He whispered how much he loved her as she pushed hard.

The doctor was happy with her effort and told her that one more push would have the baby with them. Three minutes later they had a son.

Liiani fell back on the bed as AJ cut the cord and then looked down in amazement as they placed the baby on her tummy.

"Thank you for a beautiful son," AJ told her as he stroked the baby's head. "And if we do have a daughter next, thank you for having him first so she won't tease him like Adel did me!"

She couldn't help but giggle at that but halfway through she gasped and her eyes flew to the doctor. The nurse took away their son to weigh and measure him, as the doctor told Liiani it was time for round two.

Twelve minutes later Robert's sister was born. This time Liiani was almost too tired to even look at the baby they put on her tummy. "You should call the family," she whispered.

"I think I'll wait until you've had a nap and then we can call them together."

She only heard the first part of what he'd said. Liiani fell asleep halfway through his comment.

While Liiani slept AJ went down to the nursery for a report on the twins. Both babies were under five pounds. Robert was four pounds ten ounces, and Rebecca was four pound four ounces. The nurse reported that both were healthy and should be fine. Liiani had been put in a room and AJ settled into a chair to wait for her to wake up.

The quiet of the room was broken when Liiani's cell phone rang. Reaching into her purse to try and stop the ringing before it woke her, he quietly said, 'hello' into the phone.

"AJ? I thought I hit Liiani's number first. Oh well, no matter I'm sure you can tell her the news," Vince's excited voice greeted him.

"We were going to call you with news too," AJ told him as he saw Akaliiani's eyes flutter open.

"What news?" both of them asked at the same time.

"Go ahead," AJ told Vince politely.

"Well, I was calling to tell you that Collette woke up a few hours ago."

"That's fantastic news!" AJ told him, and passed the news along to Akaliiani. She grinned happily and reached for the phone. He handed it to her and sat down again.

"That is so awesome Vince! Has she seen Harley yet?"

"The doctors are still checking her out, but as soon as they are done I'll take her to the nursery. Now didn't AJ say that he had some news too?"

"We wanted to let you know that you were an Uncle once again."

"Oh sis that's great! But you're early! Is the baby alright?! Are you?!"

"Yes, were all fine."

"That's great then! Did you have a boy or a girl?"

"Yes," she answered with a giggle.

"You aren't going to tell me?"

"I did!"

"Wait a minute! Did you guys have twins?!" Vince exclaimed.

"We did, please don't say anything to Pops. I want to tell him myself."

_**To be continued…..**_


	46. Chapter 46

_Chapter 46_

"Of course you should tell him Sis. I will go and take care of Collette, why don't you give him a call now?"

"I will. Give our best to Collette."

"Sure thing," he told her.

Liiani could hear the emotion in her dad's voice after she told him about the babies. "Oh baby girl, what a great day for wonderful news! Just a little while ago Collette woke up."

"I know Pops, Vince just called. It's great news. Please tell them that we are both so happy for them. Now I should call the rest of my brothers. Should I tell them about Collette since Vince is busy taking her to see the baby?"

"That's a good idea, baby girl. I'll tell Vince you are going to do this."

She got mixed reactions from Sam and Susan when she called them. Both laughter and tears greeted her news. By the time she got off the phone Liiani realized just how tired she was. Asking AJ to make the other two calls Liiani was about to take a nap when the nurse came in with two rolling bassinettes.

"These two little beauties will be wanting to eat soon. If you need any help please just call the nurses' station."

At that moment the baby in the tiny pink hat woke with a whimper. Before she could draw a breath to really start to cry AJ was on his feet to lift his daughter into his arms and pass her over to her mother.

"AJ, she's SO beautiful!"

"Almost as beautiful as her mother," he replied.

Liiani grinned up at AJ as Becky began to nurse. As she fed the baby AJ called her other two brothers to let them know the double news events of the day and last but not least, he called PO Coates so she could let the staff know about the twins births.

The next day Liiani and the twins were allowed to go home. Even though they were under five pounds, both babies were deemed healthy enough to go home.

When they arrived at the house Harriett and Bud Roberts were on the front porch to greet them. She had made dinner for them as well as bringing over a large box of baby clothes from their twins that they had grown out of.

"Harriett, thank you SO much! These are wonderful!"

"You're welcome and I promise to send more as long as I can hold these adorable babies."

Before she had finished the request AJ had lifted Robert out of his carrier and handed him to Harriett.

The new parents entered the house to find another surprise waiting for them.

"POPS!" Liiani exclaimed seeing her father and Adel standing in the middle of the living room. She rushed into his arms for a hug and then did the same to Adel.

"Vince really didn't need us anymore now that Collette was awake so we just had to come and see our newest grand babies," Gerald told her.

"We're glad you're here," AJ assured them.

Adel reached out and took baby Rebecca from AJ's hands and quickly removed her from her carrier so she could hold the tiny baby. Harriett saw the look on Gerald's face and passed Robert over to him so he could cuddle his grandson. Bud and Harriett didn't want to intrude on family time too long so reminded them that dinner was in the oven and that they would stop by in a couple of days to visit with the babies again and took their leave.

In Hawaii Mac and Trevor were gearing up for a birthday party for the quads. They were turning seven and had invited their entire first grade class to the big outdoor birthday party. The first they could remember having since they had been orphaned at three and no one had wanted to adopt four boys at the same time until Mac had come along and seen their dear sweet identical faces.

In Little Creek, Collette had been sent home from the hospital but baby Harley was still in the NIC U. She was not released until she reached the five pound mark when she was three and a half months old.

_**To be continued…..**_


	47. Chapter 47

_Chapter 47_

Gerald and Adel had stayed with AJ and Liiani until the twins were a week old and then finally returned to Texas.

Talk began between the five children about getting everyone together now that there had been so many new additions to the Benet family. They were going back and forth on when to do this.

Gerald's one hundred and first birthday was coming up but three of them were not able to get away on that date. However, just a couple of weeks later the fourth of July fell on a long weekend.

David was the last to confirm that he could get the time off for the fourth. So the plan was for all of them to descend on the ranch in Texas with a special plan for a surprise for Gerald and Adel.

They were all going to go into town and have an entire family portrait taken.

Gerald and Adel were surprised when Trevor Mac and the four boys pulled up for a visit. An hour later David and his family arrived. Two hours after that Vince and family as well as AJ and family arrived together because they had managed to get the same flight out of Virginia. By the time Sam and his family arrived that evening, it was no longer a surprise.

What amazed everyone was that although it was a tight fit all twenty of them were able to stay in the ranch house.

Then the big surprise was discussed over dinner that evening. They were going into town the next day to have the family portraits taken. Each family was going to have one of their branch taken as well as everyone being in the combined one.

Gerald and Adel were shown to the center two chairs that were in the front row. On either side of them were Vince and Collette holding baby Harley, on the other side were AJ and Akaliiani each holding one of the twins. On the floor in front of Gerald and Adel were the quads Jacco, Jahan, Jamar, and Javen, with Mac sitting on one side of them and Trevor on the other. Standing behind Gerald was Sam with two year old Peter on his shoulder and Susan next to him. Behind Adel was David with three year old Joyce on his shoulders and standing next to him was Nicci holding little James.

Several pictured were taken and then they were all shown the results on the computer for them to choose which to print. Smiling up at her husband, Akaliiani said, "AJ, doesn't that look like a forever future to you?!"

_**The End**_


End file.
